August For August Part Deux!
by shellalana
Summary: I did this last year and quit after day 10. I'm going to challenge myself to actually do all 31 days this month!
1. Day Eight

Day three. He had a headache and the chills, strong enough for August to realize that this was more than just a bad feeling. He was sick and he hated it. Being sick meant that he couldn't run the bar or make any runs. Being sick meant he was going to lose business and customers.

He down a shot of pickle juice and sucked on a lime as he strolled upstairs to bed.

* * *

Day five-and-a-half. Nostrils clogged, he couldn't even get out of bed. His legs and arms ached, his back felt like tissue paper and he was the pounding in his head came from outside the bar. He lazily typed a message to Tector on his ECHO, squinting through one bleary eye.

No, Tector replied. There was no one using a jackhammer or a hammer of any kind to dig a hole underneath his bar.

* * *

Day eight. He should have gone to the doctor on day six when he'd discovered that this was no mere cold. This was serious and if he didn't get help soon... well, he didn't want to think about that.

August stared at the ashen, narrowed face looking back as he brushed his teeth. He couldn't taste or feel anything, and felt so disconnected from his body that he'd bumped into a lot of things and fell down half the time. Sasha would have chastised him for not exercising some common sense and just calling a doc.

Just one more day, he told himself. One more day and then he would go. He'd been left out in The Dust for eight days and had done fine. He'd gone for eight days without showering once too, when he was 8 and his mom hadn't shown him how to use a washing machine. He could endure a little sickness.

August puked blood on the evening of day eight. The doctor showed up within the hour.


	2. Mustard Is Yellow

Mordecai sighed; he didn't know why he'd agreed to help August out in the first place, but it was too late to back out now. The blonde had asked him to help out with something at the bar, and Mordecai had taken that to mean that he would be sampling new drinks to serve.

Not food.

Mordecai had a hate-hate relationship with food. He hated it and it hated him right back. The only thing he could ever really keep down was soup, and even that hated him a little bit. But it had quieted down a bit after he (mostly) quit alcohol so there was hope for him yet.

But that didn't mean he was eager to take a risk. If his ulcers flared up, August could take that badly either way: he would either assume the food was bad or he'd inquire into Mordecai's condition, and it was really none of the blonde's business. Which would lead to more arguing and ruin the entire evening.

He grabbed the bottle of stomach pills Zed had given him and downed a small handful. He chased it back with a swig of iced tea from his flask. He could only hope that they would kick in in time.

* * *

August was still in the back when he heard the bell over the door ring. The sign in the window told everyone that The Purple Skag was closed for the day, which meant that it was likely Mordecai coming to his "rescue." He was surprised that the hunter even agreed to this kind of thing, but he was glad that he had a guinea pig to help him sort things out.

"How come you're closed?" the Truxican called from the front.

"Can't have you trying food while people are here. Everyone's gonna want free stuff to eat," he shouted back as he turned another hot dog over. It was plumping up nicely; just another few minutes, then he'd tuck it into a bun and slather it with condiments.

"They'd know better than me anyhow. It's not like I've got some special palate or something."

"No… but your opinion matters to me. I know you're not gonna bullshit me if you hate it."

August popped his neck as he took the last one out of the pan and onto a few paper towels to get rid of the excess oil. It felt weird to utter those words, especially to someone like the older man. Trust and reliability weren't things he placed often in other people. But Mordecai had proved to be somewhat dependable, even if it came with a side of snark or sarcasm. August could handle that easily and pay it back if he needed to. But the old man had stuck with him this far, without seeking anything in return. Perhaps in some odd way, Mordecai was paying respects to his dead mo-... to Vallory by taking care of him. Or it was something else. August hadn't put much thought into figuring it out.

"Hope you're ready. I got all the works lined up for you." August appeared from the kitchen with a tray in each hand, both laden with food. When Mordecai lifted his head, his beard twitched with a snort.

"What the hell's _that_?"

"It's a goddamned apron, you prick." Sure, there were a few painted flowers on it here and there, a latent reminder of Sasha's once-presence, but he had no other apron. Nor was he going to go out and buy one. It did its job of keeping the oil off his vest.

"Now if you're done criticizing what I'm wearing, I hope you brought an empty stomach." He plopped the two trays down in front of Mordecai, who stared at them both, completely speechless.

"You expect me to eat all this?"

"Just a bite or two out of each of 'em. I can save the rest for the kids who come around back and scrounge for scraps." August undid the knots at the back of the apron and tossed it onto the nearest stool. "Go on, then."

Mordecai's mouth twisted to one side in contemplation before he picked one up, turned it over in his hand in examination, and took a careful bite. He mulled it over in his mouth for a bit, like he wasn't sure what to do with it, and then swallowed.

August waited. If only Mordecai didn't wear those damn goggles all the time, then he could see his reaction.

"What's that stuff comin' out of it?" He poked a finger at the bitten end, and juices dribbled out onto the bartop. "Is that green chile salsa?"

"Salsa? What're you on about?" He grabbed the hotdog to take a look. Then he glared at Mordecai.

"Are you being a shit on purpose?"

"Huh?!"

"There ain't no green chile in this, Mordecai! That's mustard! Mustard is _yellow_!"

The hunter's face flushed a bright red as he snatched the hotdog back from August.

"So I'm fuckin' colour-blind! What do you want from me!?"

"They don't even taste the same!"

"I've never had a hotdog before either, stop riding my ass!"

"You could've said that before I asked you t'help me!"

"You didn't tell me I was going to be eating food, you dick!"

August folded his arms across the bartop and slammed his head down. The collision shook his teeth and instilled a new headache at the back of his skull. Things were supposed to be looking for him, things were supposed to be getting better. How did something so simple end up in such a disaster.

"Look, you want an opinion on food, I can get Gaige over here. She eats shit like this all the time, she'd know better than me about this stuff." Mordecai nudged his fist against the side of August's head. "S'the'least I can do, awright? Just… stop gettin' mopey on me."

"I am _not_ moping."

"Whatever you wanna call it. You want me to call her or not?"

"... can you stay at least?"

"... I ain't got other shit to do. Sure."

At least Mordecai would know if this Gaige was pulling his leg or not when it came to the food and tell him so. He was floundering on his own without a support system in place, incapable of trusting his own opinion on many things nowadays.

"Alright, she said she's comin'. Just… she's kinda excitable, soooo you might wanna get some earmuffs." Mordecai tucked his ECHO back into his pocket and tossed back a few more white pills.

"What're those?"

"... medicine. For my stomach."

"You gonna be alright?" August finally lifted his head from the bar, looking a little concerned.

"Nah, s'nothing serious. Ulcers and shit, you know how it is." Mordecai didn't know why he'd said it so flippantly.

August looked down at the greasy fried food he'd made. And it made him feel like shit.

"Sorry, man. I wished I'd known. I woulda made something… _not this_."

"I don't like bein' fussed over, s'fine. … but I wouldn't pass up a good soup if you know how to do one. If you're _really_ that desperate t'make it up to me."

There was Mordecai's cocky grin again and if not for the fact that the hunter was helping him out, August would have tried to smack it right off his face.

"One soup coming up for the old man." August gave him the finger over his shoulder as he retreated into the kitchen. It would be some time before this Gaige person showed up anyway. Soup he didn't know, but a quick search on the ECHOnet would give him somewhere to start.

"Yeah, an old man that can still whoop your ass!"

"Now you just sound like a pervert!"

Maybe he was struggling to find his own path, get back on his own feet, and get better at what he was used to doing. Maybe it was a risk trying something new that might or might not work. It was a risk and there was nothing holding him back. There was no one to verbally beat him down at every attempt either and it was… freeing. Even it was just the old hunter in his corner, that was one person. And one was all he really needed.


	3. ATM

August hate going on these trips with his mother. They were boring and he wasn't allowed to get out of the car or ask any questions. Why she even asked him to go alone, he didn't know. But it was better than staying at home by himself. And sometimes, if he was sneaky enough, he could eavesdrop on some of their conversation, though he still didn't understand any of it.

This trip brought them to a place most interesting, by August's standards. Colourful postcards lined the front of the register, sparkly little keyrings, and cheap little toys that fell down when you pushed a button on the bottom. August's face lit up when he spied one he wanted.

"Ma, hey ma! Can we get this!?" He ran up to her with a little robot in his hand. He snorted when he depressed the button and it all collapsed to one side.

Vallory, on the other hand, pointedly ignored him and continued her conversation with the man behind the register. He didn't look happy at all.

Afraid that she hadn't heard him, he repeated his request much louder.

"August. Do I look like an ATM? Go sit in the car and keep quiet."

Her harsh tone stunned him into silence. Yet he couldn't bear to put it back.

"Can you get it for me, please? It's only a dollar."

Vallory huffed and snatched it from his hand. August beamed when she placed it on the counter, despite her hand shooing him away.

He waited in that car for what felt like hours. Any second he expected her to return with the toy in hand, but every time it opened, the store ejected someone else.

He snorted awake when he heard the car door slammed. He'd dozed off while waiting, and his expectations soared once more at the prospects of getting his hands on that little robot. He searched his mother while she started the car, and saw that her hands were empty.

Cupholder: empty.

Dashboard: still covered in maps.

"Ma, did you forget about the robot I asked you to get for me?"

"I didn't forget. You don't need crap like that littering the house." Vallory started the car, the engine rumbling throughout the rusty housing and belching smoke out the back.

His heart sank. He could throw the door open and sprint back inside, beg the man behind the counter to give it to him, that it was just a dollar anyway and that he would come back and pay for it once he scrounged up enough loose change from under his bed, he promised! Just this one thing and he would never ask for anything in the world ever again.

But by the time he perfected the plan in his head, they were already chugging along, half a mile away from the place and August's little legs wouldn't be able to carry him back that far.

Not to mention he was sure his mother wouldn't stop and wait for him anyway.

"G'bye, li'l robot," he muttered to himself, watching the little shop shrink in the rearview mirror.


	4. The Dragon

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It's pretty big." Sasha shook her head as she watched him heft the box out of the back of the Technical.

"Beware The Dragon" was written on the side of the black box. August had paid a hefty sum of change for the damn thing, so it better be all that was promised.

"Gotta celebrate somehow, right? We finally got our hands on a Vault Key to sell to those Hyperion idiots. We're gonna be rich!" He lowered the box with a grunt and then eased it to the ground onto its side. It was going to take a lot of setup, but he'd been assured that it would be everything he hoped for and more.

"You wanna help me set this up?"

Sasha shrugged and helped him slide all of the materials out. Every piece was in its own bag, and it took a lot of cutting and tearing before everything was finally free.

"Is there instructions on how to get this going, or...?"

"What's there to figure out? You put 'em up and you light the fuses. Easy as that."

"I'd prefer if we didn't set ourselves on fire or worse, August. How dumb would that be right before we hit payday?"

August's mouth twisted to one side in contemplation. She was right but he was eager to see this lit up and filling the sky with colours and sparkles.

"Fine. We do it your way."

The box came with no instructions whatsoever, so Sasha took the ECHOnet to find them. All the while, August turned each rocket over hand in hand to see what they were made of. They smelled a little like gunpowder and sulphur, and the scents almost made him sneeze. Many of them were quite heavy too, which put an even bigger grin on his face.

It took the better part of two hours to set everything up; luckily for them, by that time, the sun was down. August stared at the long trail of fuses that ended at their feet.

"You wanna light 'em?" A flick of his thumb got his small silver torch going and he held it out to Sasha.

"You do it, it's your big day."

"It's _our_ big day. Light the big one with me." He searched for her other hand in the dark and brought it up to join his own. The longest fuse was lit, and they watched as it trickled across the sand towards its destination.

The large rocket spiraled up into the air as soon as the flame disappeared inside its housing; the shockwave collided with their chests and stole their breaths, and they watched as it went higher and higher and higher, until...

They lost sight of it in the night sky. August was convinced it must have been a dud because nothing could go that high-!

The air was suddenly filled with colourful sparkles of every shade, spiraling out so far from the epicentre, August was sure that it covered the entire desert. The resulting pop of another shockwave almost knocked him over and the crackling of fuzzy red fire made his hair stand on end. Within each explosion, there was another one within, filling the sky with streams and shapes and motes of light that soon fizzled but were quickly replaced.

The last explosion resembled simulated fire raining down from the sky in jets of fire. Bright red and glowing hot-orange made their pupils shrink, they were so bright, and August could feel their heat against his face even from this distance. Then it all faded into dark blue-black flames before fizzling out.

The silence was deafening. Sasha was the first to pump her fist into the air with a yell.

"That was awesome!"

It _was_ awesome, to the point that August was still in shock at the display. It wasn't until Sasha threw her arms around his waist that he finally shook himself out of his trance.

"Light the other ones," she said eagerly.

"Here. You do 'em." He handed her the small silver lighter and watched her go to town with his hands shoved into his pockets. After a night like this, things could only go up from here.


	5. Miss

Miss.

"August, just give up already."

Miss.

"I really don't want it that badly. Stop throwing your money away."

Miss.

"Too bad, blondie. Maybe next time."

August fished more token out of his pocket and slapped them down on the counter.

"Gimme another go."

* * *

"_What is this_?!" Vallory dragged him by the ear and pointed to the (almost) spotless floor of the kitchen.

"I mopped it like you told me too, ma!" He was up on his tiptoes, trying to relieve the pain in his earlobe.

"You _missed_ a spot."

"It's clean, ma, I promise!"

"Are you backtalking to me?"

"No, ma, I just-"

"_Then do it again_!"

* * *

"I miss you," he whispered to the empty seat of the Technical, a beer bottle in his hand and one of his shoes on the dashboard. It was probably a bad idea to get this drunk in the middle of nowhere, but he couldn't take being at Hollow's Point right now. Everything reminded him of her.

* * *

"How do you fucking miss?" August did his best not to bolt out of the chair, not when the sharp needle was already halfway through the wrong part of his ear.

"Sorry, man. I just did a couple shots."

"Of booze!?"

"Of _coffee_. Calms me down, you know? Look, unless you wanna get two piercings, ya might as well sit back and let me finish so we can get you out of here."

"Ooohh, no. Get that shit out of my ear and pierce where I told you to."

"What, and just leave a hole in your ear like that? 'S'gonna get infected. Unless you know a good doctor."

"Would you do it already before I rip that ring out of your lip?!"

"Yeah, fine, sure. _Geez_. You miss your naptime or something?"


	6. Old Photo

A rowdy fight in The Purple Skag was one way to get August's blood pumping. But tonight was not that night. It had put his mood on edge and left it for the worst. Even after Tector's assistance, the bar was in ruins with several smashed bottles, blood on the floor, and several unconscious men in the streets.

His back ached, his arms hurt, and his palms were blistered from swinging his bat around. He was starting to doubt whether this was the kind of life he wanted for himself.

He flung the nail-filled bat to one side and fell onto his bed. It collided with his dresser, the nail heads taking out chunks of wood. That only pissed him off more, since he was going to have to fix that in the morning. As he felt his body sink into the mattress, he stared up at the ceiling, wondering where he'd gone wrong. Or if he'd ever gone right to begin with. He could stay here, beating in faces one by one, day after day, year after year. Or he could go out and make something of himself, pick up where his mother left off and take a few chances.

He shut his eyes tight against the words that suddenly filled his ears. _Her _words, in _her_ voice.

_'You'll never make anything of yourself, August. Not by playing nice.'_

He'd tried that too, being the big asshole that everyone hated, and he took that hatred as respect. It was what kept him going for so long.

And then everything changed.

He rolled over onto his side and spied the empty picture frame. It had held so many different photos over the years, he wasn't sure if it was ever meant to hold any.

The first fish he'd caught by himself when he ventured to Sawtooth Cauldron.

When he'd gotten his nose piercing, against his mother's wishes.

His first haul of guns and cash from a bandit raid.

Him standing in front of The Purple Skag, looking quite proud on opening day.

A selfie of him and Sasha making faces.

August picked up the simple metal frame and hugged it to his chest. He never thought to ask Vallory if there'd been any baby pictures of him, and now he regretted it. To see what he was like when he was still innocent, before life had fucked him over.


	7. Tap

Tap. Tap tap.

August awoke much too early, bleary-eyed and with a stinging headache behind his eyes. Peering through a heavy eyelid, the morning light was still a dull shade of grey. It definitely wasn't 6 yet.

Tap tap tap.

He licked his dry lips and rolled over, pulling the heavy pillow over his ears to smother that infernal sound.

"Go away. We're not open," came his muffled warning, and pulled more of the covers up around him to find that perfect warm nest once more.

Tap.

All he had to do was ignore it, dive back into whatever dream he was having, and let the hours slide by in his slumber. But last night's event had soured his mood and that still lingered on the edges of his consciousness.

_Tap._

"That's fucking it." He threw back the covers and pulled on the nearest shirt he could grab. He was going to find out where this sound was coming from and put an end to it, even if that meant going outside barefoot and in his boxers.

He went from room to room with the bat in his hand. He finally traced it to the bathroom and saw the mirror jostle with each tap. He was on the upper floor of The Purple Skag, so unless someone was being a crazy idiot climbing onto his roof, something else had to be making the sound.

Downstairs he went, bat still in hand, and ventured through the front door. He didn't care about the looks he got from those who were up this early and went around the side of the building to where the bathroom would be. Perched on the wall was a brightly-coloured bird, its head turning to regard his presence, wary that he might try to chase it away.

"What th'fuck are you doing! Shoo!" August flailed his arms and was tempted to chuck his bat at the damn thing. But it looked down at him with a bright golden eye before going back to its task at hand.

"I said go!" Instead of the bat, August picked up a rock and chucked it. It hit the wall almost a foot away from the bird, which fluttered its wings in fright but otherwise didn't move. It wasn't like August wanted to kill the damn thing, despite his earlier intentions.

He tried to go about his day, cleaning up the bar, taking care of patrons, making calls to his runners. And beneath it all, there was the light tap tap in the background. That bird seemed adamant about whatever it was doing, but August couldn't just let it ruin his building. So he called up the only bird expert he knew on the ECHO.

"And you don't got bugs? Air's pretty humid in Hollow's Point, you might have termites."

"I'm pretty sure I'd notice termites, Mordecai." No, he wouldn't. He didn't even know what they looked like but he couldn't afford to fumigate the place with all of his booze inside.

"What'd you say it looked like?"

"Real bright, lotsa colours and shit. Long curly tail, too."

"Sounds like you got a male. Maybe he's tryin' to build a nest for his lady."

"Ain't birds supposed to build nests in trees?"

"When's the last time you saw a tree on Pandora, August."

Point.

"Alright. How do I make it go away and build its nest or whatever somewhere else?"

"Maybe you can't. If it's building one now, his lady's gonna pop any second with eggs. Maybe you just wanna put a box or birdhouse up there to make it easier for 'em. _Talon, hey, stop that!_ Sorry."

"You're saying to let a family of birds live on the side of my building."

"... yeah? What's wrong with that?"

"They're gonna cover the side of it with shit!"

"You live in a goddamned cave! Where rakk and bats live!"

Another point. August moved the ECHO away to compose himself.

"Alright, fine. You know how to build one?"

"Nah. But if you got an old cardboard box lying around, maybe you can just cut a hole on one side and seal off the rest. Pretty sure they might just like that as a nesting box."

"People are gonna talk, Mordecai." The Purple Skag would look weird with just cardboard box stuck to the side of it. He'd get a lot of questions. Not to mention that if the eggs hatched, they'd keep him up at night too.

"When've you ever given a fuck what people say?"

Having no legitimate answer to that, he decided to take the hunter's advice. He got an old empty box of beer, taped up all the seams, and cut a sizable hole on one side. He even shredded up some old newspapers and shoved those in there too to make it more enticing so that it would stop pecking on his house. The bird screamed at him when he came up the ladder and fluttered over his head, divebombing the back of his neck every so often that.

"Fuck off, you piece of shit! I'm trying to help you!" He managed to get the hook in and got the box set up before descending the ladder. The bird perched at the apex of the roof, all fluffed up and still screaming.

If Mordecai was wrong about this, August was going to punch him in the gut himself.

But that night, there was no tapping. What he did hear was a light rustling in the box and paper being moved about. Was the bird enjoying it or was it ripping everything to shreds? He was tempted to go back outside to take a look, to see his hard work being put to use but thought better of it. It was dark so he wouldn't be able to see anyway and if he disturbed the creature, it could go back to its pecking.

"I'm giving you _one_ chance, roomie. Don't fuck this up." He lightly rapped his knuckle on the wall over his bed and turned off the light.

Tap. Tap.

"... you're welcome."

* * *

It grew so quiet over the next few days that August completely forgot about the box strapped to the side of his place... until he heard the first soft peeps coming through the wall when he was brushing his teeth one morning. At first, he thought he'd lost his ECHO amongst his pile of clothes, but when he traced the sounds to the other side of his bathroom wall, he remembered the next he'd made.

He lightly tapped on the wall and the peeping got louder, as if they were glad for the attention.

"You guys sound hungry. Hope your ma and pa find some good food around here for you."

Maybe there was something to taking care of another life for once like Mordecai did with Talon. He found himself wondering whether he should put out some food of some kind for them so that the parents wouldn't have to wander far, to make things less stressful for them and so that the babies could get big and fat.

Tap tap tap, he knocked.

The babies screamed again.

That sealed the deal.


	8. Enough

"Hey, c'mon li'l guy."

Pink and wriggling and completely defenceless. That was how August discovered one of the babies on the ground outside. How it fell from so high without dying was beyond him but he wasn't about to question the fatality of physics.

He wasn't sure if climbing back up there to return the baby was a good idea either. What if the parents or siblings had kicked it out for some reason? Putting it back up there would just jeopardize its health again and it might not be so lucky next time it fell out.

So he carefully wiped the mud off of it and cupped it close to his chest to give it some warmth before carrying it inside. Another box would have to do, something smaller that he could stuff full of more shredded paper for warmth.

He'd stupidly tried giving the little bird droplets of milk when he remembered that birds didn't even have nipples. After dabbing the little thing's face off with a tissue, he looked up what baby birds actually ate. He made a face when he discovered that the mother bird regurgitated food into their mouths.

"No way in hell am I doing that." He looked down at the little pink blob. Dark blobs on either side of its head indicated where its eyes were and the tiny beak opened every time he hovered over it.

"... shit."

He should just bring the damn box to Mordecai and be done with it. He didn't have time for this, nor the patience. It would be easier to just let it die. That was nature, after all, things died all the time.

Yet he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that came over him. He would be giving up on it when it needed help the most, having no one in its corner to help it to thrive.

"You got this. I just gotta get you the right food is all."

A quick call to Mordecai sent August on a task to find a couple of scythids. The thought of having to catch the damn things wasn't pleasant, but a handful of the small ones would be enough to sustain the little thing for a while. That meant shoving the leftover ones in his fridge, however, and he was wary that they might taint the drinks he did keep in there.

He soon returned to Hollow's Point covered in bug guts and a sack of dead scythids, greenish ooze seeping out of the bullet wounds he'd filled them with. He didn't even stop to explain to Tector what he'd been to, nor did the large guy seem interested in asking. Right into the back he went, where he dumped the bag of them onto the floor.

"Alright. What do I got that can mush you assholes up nice and small?"

His eyes fell on the mortar and pestle: too messy, and it would take forever to grind it all up by hand. Then he spotted the blender. It looked like he wasn't going to be serving any mixed drinks for a while.

August strolled back upstairs with his t-shirt over his nose and a small cup and eye dropped in hand. He'd left the box on his bed with pillows on all sides to add some extra warmth. The little pink skin sack was barely moving until he leaned over the box. It barely lifted its head, mouth open, and emitted a weak peep. He'd left for too long and not it was hanging on by a thread.

"Hope this is enough for ya." He sat with the box cradled in his lap and started dropping bug guts into the baby bird's mouth. It dribbled here and there; it was still trying to understand the concept of swallowing but it soon got the hang of it after the fifth attempt. Little by little, August could see its little belly getting fuller by the second, until it finally closed its mouth, no longer interested in the meal being offered.

His shoulders and back ached from sitting in one position for so long as he put the stuff to one side. Every three hours, Mordecai had told him. He stared at the clock. He could go downstairs, serve a few drinks for the evening, then come back. Tonight, however...

He set his ECHO to beep every three hours. There was no way he was going to come this far just for his new charge to die. It deserved a chance at life, despite the odds. Everything did.

"I'm doing my best, li'l bud. I just hope that's enough for ya." He gently scooped more of the shredded paper closer to the creature's body to keep it warm.

Enough. He'd never been good enough for his mom, not good enough for Sasha. Without them around, he was going to have to learn and discover his true worth, set about his own rules for his life. To find out if he was more than just enough.

For the time being, however, he was going to be the world for the wriggling bean sleeping in the box in his lap. It would have to do.


	9. Chip

August thought he was past this, having to protect his bar against sneak thieves. He thought his reputation would have spoken for him by now, but it seemed there were still a few idiots in the world who hadn't learned yet.

"C'mon, Chip. It's not that hard. Just tell me who you're working for and we can get this over with." August patted the bat against his palm. The man was hanging upside-down from the ceiling, spinning lazily in circles. A small river of blood ran from his lip and up his cheek into his eye. He was trying to best to blink it away but his hands being bound behind his back made the task impossible.

"My name's not Chip," he blubbered, trying his best to sound angry. The tremor to his voice betrayed his fear, however, robbing the determination behind his words.

"Oh, I know, I don't actually give a fuck what your name is. But Chip's easiest to remember. Rolls off the tongue kinda nice. Easy to forget to." August nudged the man's stomach with his bat, sending him swaying and spinning in the other direction.

"That way, if I have to bash your brains in, I don't have to keep a face to the name. Now back to the question."

"I tell you, he kills me!"

"You _don't_ tell me, _I_ kill you. And I don't know what kinda person your boss is, but I have no problems dragging things out for a long, _long_, time." He nudged him with the bat again, a little harder this time.

"He'll kill me _and _my family! Come on, you got a family, right? You'd do anything to keep them safe!"

August's proud grin faded for a bit, the bat coming to rest on his shoulder. He paced around the man in deep contemplation, working his teeth against his bottom lip.

Then he swung the bat savagely at the man's spine. The solid thwack of wood against skin made even August cringe internally. Only a pained gasp escaped "Chip" as all his air was stolen.

"Idiots like you always think that using the family card's gonna get you some leeway, but you played that on the wrong person. I'd sell out my mother for a mint if she was still alive." And he didn't want to start thinking about the others. They'd bonded closer with each other, leaving August on the periphery of it all. Which was fine: Rhys and Vaughn could be annoying, and things between him and Sasha were still strained. He hadn't given Fiona a second glance ever since she'd sold him a defunct Key. It was him and him alone, watching everything else from the sidelines.

"We can keep chipping away at this - ha, you see what I did there? - or I can keep breaking you bone by bone until I get what I want."

Tears and snot ran down the man's face as he battled his own wits for the right answer. Either option spelled his death; it mattered whether it would be slow and painful in a foreign place or quick and painless on turf he knew.

"Veinsplitter... his names Veinsplitter..." he gurbled wetly. August's face cracked.

"What the hell kinda name is that?"

"Can you let me go now?! I gave you what you wanted!"

August snorted and undid the knot by the wall. "Chip" fell right onto his shoulder, likely dislocating it, but at least he hadn't cracked his skull on the ground. He twisted and turned himself until he was on his knees and painfully stood to his feet.

"My hands...?"

August shrugged and tightened his grip on the bat once more. "Chip" got the message and booked it out of there.

At least he had a name for the asshole who murdered his couriers and stole his stuff. And thanks to "Chip," it wouldn't be hard to figure out where this guy's territory was and really make him live up to his name.


	10. Purple Girdle

"I see you, you piece of shit."

August stared through the binoculars over the rusted walls of the bandit camp. Atop the highest tier, in front of the most decorated building, he saw the one called Veinsplitter parading around with his loot. The elaborate headpiece he wore, made mostly out of rusted knife blades and other pieces of metal, completely covered his face. The long cloak looked to be made out of rakk wings stitched together, and the bullymong fur covering the rest of his body made him look like a walking Q-tip head. The lesser bandits were cheering him on, a few even kneeling on the ground before him to keep him appeased. August thought he looked simply ridiculous.

August also spied his courier among them, bloodied and bruised and bound. He wished he could say he cared about the man enough to stage a rescue, but he was just another cog in the machine of his industry he was trying to keep moving. The courier could be easily replaced. The rest of August's franchise, not so much.

He waited for hours just on the borders of the Southern Shelf, waiting for the sun to go down so that he could slip in under the darkness of night. He was tempted to give Mordecai a call to help him out, snipe a few of the guards to make getting in a little easier, but he figured it was time he started doing things for himself instead of relying on other people for a change. And honestly, how hard could this get? He still had his bat, that laser baton Rhys had left behind, and that Hyperion SMG that knew how to spray an entire camp without much aim. And once he cut the head off the snake, the rest of the bandits would fall apart and he could make off with his look no problem.

At least, that's what he hoped for.

He pulled the black tam down over his head to hide his blonde hair and removed his jewelry for once. Any glimmer of moonlight off the metal would give him away. He also did up the zipper of his vest and tied his boots properly to minimize the noise he made. He checked himself over once more before squeezed through the hole someone had forgotten to patch up after the last skag had chewed its way in.

He didn't waste any time searching through the different domiciles looking for his stuff. He knew it would be at the top, all of it confiscated by the leader. That was just how bandits worked, and that predictability meant he didn't have to waste any time.

_Crunch_.

He paused behind a dumpster, his breath held, heart thudding loudly in his chest. He was afraid to turn around, afraid to move. Another crunch startled him again and he realized he wasn't coming from him. No, peering over the lip of the dumpster revealed a large Goliath breaking bones in half with his bare hands and picking what meat remained off them. Fat fingers shoved the strips of greasy meat through the slats in his bucket-sized helmet. Warm oil dribbled down the metal and stained the ratty shirt underneath.

August swallowed hard and backed up. He was going to have to find another way around.

Or...

_Ping!_

The metal helmet went flying and it didn't take long for the blood-curdling roar of the Goliath to capture the interests of the camp. The ground shook beneath his boots as the Goliath slammed his fists against the ground and looked for the nearest opponent to tear apart. His meal had been interrupted and he didn't care by whom. Someone had to pay for disrupting his peaceful evening.

That gave August the opening he'd been looking for, and he sprinted across the small space to the next hiding place across the way. Rusted metal steps led up to the next landing before they twisted around on themselves again to head up higher. The growls and yells of the Goliath grew quieter and quieter until they were no louder than the buzzing of a gnat. August didn't dare to look down to see how high up he was. The cool, night wind told him enough.

The inside of the bandit leader's abode with awash with orange light, flickering and wavering like candle-flame. He retrieved his SMG and held it tight against his body as he crept inside. The aim on it was shit, and he didn't want his first few shots to miss.

What he didn't expect was for it to smell so nice inside. Like firemelon flowers. It took him aback to the point that his grip on the gun loosened a little. To one side of the room, that odd metal helmet sat on a cot, with the rakkwing-cape folded up just beside it. Another step brought him through a pair of skag skin curtains, where the bullymong fur sat on the ground.

August swallowed hard. He was taking too long with this, he should have burst in already and peppered the place with bullets. Mordecai would have-...

Cold metal found the side of his neck and he knew he was fucked.

"You some kind of stupid motherfucker?"

The voice was also unexpected. He didn't wait to be told to drop the gun, his empty hands going up in the air. Oh man, _he was so fucked_.

"You thought you could rob from me, huh?"

He tilted his head to ease the blade from his neck, not wanting his carotid to be sliced open. That's when he caught sight of a rich purple, a colour so stark against these bland surroundings he couldn't pull his eyes away from it.

"Gotta give you credit, though, making it all the way up here with your balls still between your legs. You the reason Jimmy's down there hollering and smashing up my camp?"

A woman. Veinsplitter was a woman, a half-naked woman right in front of him, wearing a purple girdle of all things and a lace, _fucking lace_, bodysuit in a place like this. The scene was so arresting he was sure he was dreaming. Then the blade to his ribs reminded him of how fucked he still was. The pistol whip to the back of the head put an end to that thought pretty quickly.


	11. Cannibals

August wasn't sure what woke him up that morning; perhaps it was the strange smell of cooking meat or the painful jab of something hard against his back. Either way, he knew he wasn't in his own bed when he came to. He tried to recall what had happened before unconsciousness had claimed him. He'd found that camp... the Goliath... _that woman_.

He bolted upright, only to fall flat on his face. His hands and feet were bound together behind his back, and the sudden motion sent a ripple of pain through his side. That bitch had stabbed him... which begged the question of why he was even still alive.

As the spiderwebs of fogginess slowly slipped from his mind, it dawned on him that he hadn't told anyone where he was going. No one was going to come looking for him. August closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He wasn't going to let panic get the best of him.

"Hungry, gorgeous?"

August almost screamed. He hadn't heard or seen anyone moving around, so he thought he was alone with his thoughts. The cackle that followed did nothing for his mood.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, love. I mighta beaned you a little harder than I expected. Course, when you sneak into a girl's chambers when she's trying to have her private time..."

August shifted slightly and saw the woman from last night sitting not too far away, a cigarette dancing off her lip as she spoke. He couldn't be sure if she was wearing black contacts for intimidation purposes or if it was just the dim lighting in here, but they were darker than he was comfortable with. Large, too. It made him question what was really in that cigarette.

"You want one?" She started tapping the cig carton on her knee, brows raised in question.

"No tha-... _no_."

"I got something on my face?"

"What?"

"I'm trying to figure out why you're staring." She plucked the cig from her mouth and blew a steady stream of smoke in his direction. It had an ashy, fruity smell, one that made August want to sneeze. Confessing that she had weird eyes meant that he _was_ staring, and anything could set off a bandit to want to take his head off.

"... just trying to figure you out. Veinsplitter? What kinda name is that?" He gave her the best cocky grin he could muster. Posturing was better than whimpering like a little shit, and maybe the odd question would give him some answers.

Veinsplitter pursed her lips and replaced the cigarette. She obviously wasn't amused.

"None o'your business. I'm not about to show some blonde hack where the name comes from. Now you wanna tell me why you're in my camp?"

"You wanna tell me why you have my courier and stealing my shit?"

"_Your _courier." The woman chewed on that for a while, the cigarette rolling back and forth across her lip until it fell to the ground, her mouth agape.

"_You're_ fucking August. _The_ August."

He was taken aback, completely unsure how to take that. She made it sound like he was some kind of celebrity. August felt his face go hot and his pride swell.

"Holy shit!" She crushed her cigarette under her boot in her haste to cross the room, the woman's eyes dancing with an intriguing light August couldn't put words to. "Holy shit!"

"You said that already. What the hell...?"

He felt his bonds slip from his wrists and boots. It was a relief to no longer be tied up. His joints were already starting to pay the toll on being bound for so long. Long, slow grunts escaped him as he unfurled himself from his position on the ground. and brushed the dirt off his face.

Veinsplitter crouched before him with stars practically in her eyes as she helped him up to his feet. She was dressed in her Bullymong fur again, covering up the thin figure he'd seen the night before. This close, he could see that her eyes weren't black at all, but a deep purple that looked like...

"So _you're_ the guy everyone's talking about around here! To think I was stealing from _you_, of all people!" She continued to brush his clothes off until he started slapping her hands away. He wasn't sure which was worse: being held by a bandit leader or having a fangirl.

At least someone was paying attention to what he did.

"So what, you're gonna eat me now?" August edged away from her, not wanting to trust her sudden sunny disposition too readily.

"Pbth! Eat you?! We're not cannibals!" Veinsplitter stepped in to shove his shoulder, but he dodged out of reach. She might be playing at friendly but that was no reason to drop his guard around her.

"So... what? Are you just going to keep me here like some kind of pet at a zoo?"

"Oh! Well... I planned to beat you for info, see what you could cough up but you're the head honcho! You don't get to be where you are by being soft. Or stupid. So I'm thinking... a partnership."

"You... want to work together." August fished his jewelry out of his back pocket and slipped them back into place. No reason he couldn't at least feel comfortable, even if he was in the presence of someone who probably didn't have all their shit together.

"Who _wouldn't_ want to work with you?"

August could think of a long list of people.

"I ain't no bandit," he scoffed. "I live by my own rules, not yours."

Veinsplitter raised her hands defensively, but a wide smile cracked her thoughtful expression.

"That sounds like you're saying yes."

August wasn't sure _what_ he was saying. Becoming a bandit wasn't something he'd ever really considered. Remaining in Hollow Point with his comfy bar and his comfy job was what kept him going from day to day. All of that excitement of dealing with the Vault forced him to take a break. But he had to admit that those times _had_ been thrilling.

"I'm saying... lemme think about it."

Maybe this was _exactly_ what he was supposed to be doing.


	12. Army Brat

One day melted into the next. August took care of his affairs in small doses, going back and forth between Veinsplitter's camp and The Purple Skag. Knowing where it was now instead of searching the entire wastes, he could easily make the trip in an hour and a half each way.

But it didn't take long for him to move small things into her camp, right into her abode. Small things just for convenience's sake. She'd been tickled pink about it at first, suggesting that they were more like date mates moving into their first apartment together, but August knew it was just more of her teasing. He had no interest in staying at her place, much less trying to get involved with her.

He watched how she performed that first day working together, seeing how she ran her bandits. It was impressive, to say the least. Not unlike Vallory's command over her employees, but with a less severe hand. August didn't understand how Veinsplitter got so many to follow her word without backtalk, especially when so many of them rarely even spoke in coherent sentences. He decided to question her on that over a shared dinner with the rest of the camp that evening.

"People all think you gotta beat fear into psychos to make them do what you want, but it's actually the opposite. You can get them to do pretty much whatever you want if you give them what _they_ want."

"... underwear?" August asked over the edge of his glass, the piss-poor beer grazing his bottom lip. He would have brought something better if it meant not taking from his own stock, and that stuff was worth money. Definitely not something he'd waste for free on a bandit.

"Murder. Horses gotta run, yeah? But you put reins on them to steer them where you want them to go. Pretty much the same for bandits."

"Kinky."

"Not like that, asshole." Veinsplitter threw a soggy piece of bread at him and it stuck to the front of his shirt. "I give them targets, keep them fed, give them a roof over their heads, there's no reason for them to turn on me."

"Until they find someone better to follow. The threads of loyalty only go so deep, I hear." The meal before him was rich with flavour, which was surprising, given what he initially thought of bandit food supplies.

"True. But some idiot'd have to get to me first. You're the first that's ever gotten that far."

August couldn't help the imagery playing through his head at that moment. Entering her tent, the gun in his hand. If he'd pulled the trigger, then he could have been in charge of this place. A whole bandit camp to command... He wasn't sure if he'd be able to run this place as well as she did, but he wouldn't have any competitors any more stealing his loot, that was for sure.

"Don't think about it." She tapped harshly on the side of his temple, a smirk playing on her lips.

"I wasn't." He quickly shook the thought from his head.

"You were. I can tell, you got that look in your eye. Like you wanted to do something dangerous."

August rolled his eyes and shoved more food into his mouth. He wasn't going to entertain her assumptions of him, because that would give her reins over him he wasn't interested in handing over.

"Boss! Boss!" A bandit suddenly ran in, looking panicked as hell. That was enough to stop the two mid-meal.

"What's going on?"

"Two Vault Hunters at the gate! One of 'em's this army brat and the other's a guy with a bird."

_Guy with a bird_.

Half of the food in August's mouth was expelled onto the plate in his surprise. What the fuck was Mordecai doing here?

"Shoot 'em down," Veinsplitter said dismissively, more interested in her meal in asking what they wanted.

"Wait!" August's chest still ached from some of his meal slipping down the wrong pipe. "Lemme go talk to 'em."

Veinsplitter looked him over for a second.

"You know them?"

"Yeah. Kinda. Lemme talk to 'em and they'll go away, no need to waste your bullets."

"... remember what I said about givin' the psychos what they want?"

"Did you forget the part where I don't give a fuck? I said I don't live by your rules, remember?"

That seemed to sour Veinsplitter's mood but she didn't raise another point of contention against him. August got his boots on, a little upset that he was going to have to do this on a still empty stomach, but keeping Mordecai alive was the least he could do. Not that the old man couldn't take care of himself. August just felt it necessary to spare him the trouble.

That niggling feeling beneath his ribs told him differently. Or maybe that was his scar still healing. Yeah, he decided to go with that.

* * *

"You sure this is the right place, Mordecai?" Axton leaned against the hood of the Technical, his Sabre turret sitting on the ground just nearby. Mordecai wasn't sure why he'd brought it out, since there was no trouble around.

"Pretty sure. Intel says he was taken here."

"Then why aren't we busting in already?"

"Cuz we don't know what's waiting for us on the other side. It's called scoping the place." Mordecai shook his head. That's why he wasn't a fan of the soldier types, always interested in shooting up the place first and asking questions later. Or waiting for orders to do so.

"Yeah, well, wake me up when you're done scoping. This is boring." Axton retreated to the flatbed of the Technical to sneak in a nap.

* * *

"Can't stay away, can you?" August strolled out through the gate, out of breath. He hadn't planned ahead what he was going to say to the sniper so he knew he was going to have to play this by ear. Whatever got the old man leaving, anyway.

"You weren't at the bar."

Mordecai's tone left no room for question and even more room for explanation. It rubbed August the wrong way, like he was being interrogated by his mother again. Just when he'd found some freedom for himself...

"You working with these bandits now?"

"Why's it any of your business? I don't remember signing any agreement with you saying I couldn't."

Mordecai didn't take to that answer, his lips still drawn in a thin line. It infuriated August and made him feel small at the same time. Couldn't he earn at least one person's approval on this goddamned planet?

He had Veinsplitter's. She'd been proud of the way he'd snuck into her place, _and_ she knew who he was from the start. He was making headlines somewhere with his activities.

"No, you didn't. ... look, work with whoever you fucking like, but I want to make sure you know what you're doing."

"I'm not stupid, Mordecai."

"I didn't say that either. But not everyone's as they seem to be. You've got firsthand knowledge of that."

That cut off August's next retort, deflated him into the empty, lonely little boy he thought he'd left behind. Why couldn't Mordecai just be happy for him instead of pointing out everything that was wrong with his life?

"Shit happens, you know who to call," Mordecai said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah... well... maybe I'm thinkin' about losin' your number anyhow..."

It was a weak way to get his point across but Mordecai accepted it just the same. He waved him off before turning away and slapping his hand on the hood of the Technical. August spied someone pop up from the flatbed. That must have been the army brat he'd brought with him. No matter. He didn't care about the guy's name anyhow.

By the time he got all the way back up to Veinsplitter's his meal was cold. Which was fine; he was no longer hungry anyway.


	13. Buff

Almost a month passed before August forgot about that horrible meeting with (and departure of) Mordecai. The old man seemed like the kind to hold a grudge when it suited him, holding forgiveness close to his chest until he was sure someone deserved it. August wasn't sure if he ever would, but that honestly wasn't his problem. If Mordecai wanted to be a bitter, old dodger, that was on him.

His hair had grown a bit since then too, and with his hair product dwindling, he wore his shaggy mop down and over his ears and forehead. He was usually one to care about his appearance, but if he had no one to impress, then there was no point. Besides, he actually liked the look a bit. Helped him to blend in a little more out in the wastes instead of looking so clean cut.

He had to admit that he was getting a little more buff too. Living on a leaner diet and running around twice as much as he used to was definitely toning and slimming his body. Even he was impressed when he chanced a look in the mirror after a shower. No one, not even Sasha, would be able to recognize him now.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd thought about her.

"Found another one of those slag factories out past the Blight. Place called... Arid Nexus? Dumb name, but whatever. We get that far and back with a haul, we won't need one for a good long while." Veinsplitter lounged across both seats of the Technical, her boots resting across his thighs. August had a pair of binoculars to his eyes, though he wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. When he didn't answer, he got a sharp heel against the soft meat of his thigh.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You're not listening to me."

"I heard you just fine. Something about slag. Nexus something or whatever. Doesn't really matter does it?"

Veinsplitter huffed and swiveled her legs off of him. Now he'd put her in a bad mood and he didn't understand why. Nor was he supposed to care. This was supposed to be a working relationship and nothing else.

She ran a hand through the short stock of black hair she kept closely shaved to her scalp. One half of it was completely bald, save for a scar that ran along it.

"Are you really this daft?"

If there was one thing August hated, it was being stupid.

"No. I just don't care. You think working all those nice words on me for the past month's going to change anything? You still stole my shit, you killed my couriers, and you think I'm another lapdog you can boss around. I agreed to this so I could keep an eye on you and still keep my shit that I've earned."

He was seething beneath the collar and forced the binoculars to his eyes again. He didn't want to see the look on her face, nor did he want her to see his. It was easier this way, to keep things professional because feelings only made things complicated and stupid and he wasn't interested in getting into that kind of nonsense again. Not so soon. He'd had his heartbroken by too many women he'd come to trust.

"So you _are_ stupid."

He was about to retort again when he found lips bruising his own. His back collided with the Technical door and there were hands underneath his shirt, pawing at his skin. His fingers curled tightly into a fist but she was gone before he could swing.

"You think I want a cottage with a picket fence, some kids, and a pretty dress? All those "nice words" I gave you's cuz they're true, dumbass. And maybe, _just maybe_, I don't want anything serious with you. Maybe I just think you're hot and got hotter since you started working for me." She nudged his abs with her fist for emphasis. This close, the swirling colours of her eyes were hypnotic to watch. Was she putting some kind of spell on him?

"_With_ me," she corrected.

August wasn't really one for one-night stands. When he fell, he fell hard. Relationships were meaningful to him, gateways to building strong connections with people he cared about. A random lay was just... not him.

Or at least the old him. Hadn't he been trying to put all that behind and give the unexpected a try?

He mentally kicked himself as he pushed away from the door and had her pinned against the other. Their mouths were crushed together and a surprised grunt escaped her. Those hands of hers were exploring his stomach again and he didn't want to leave them waiting. He hurriedly pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it into the back.

The last hours of evening melted into the night. The Technical windows were fogged up by the time they started to pull their clothes back on.

"Will that keep you quiet now?" He pushed the matted hair away from his forehead and rolled down the window for some air. He was trying not to think about what he'd just done. His conscience was battling with his stubbornness and it was making him feel even more exhausted. He was glad for the release but he couldn't say for sure whether he'd actually enjoyed the act or not.

"Mm-hm. At least there's no wondering what you're like in the sack now." She grabbed his shirt and pulled it on over her head. That way, she could still peruse his "wares" while he drove them back home.

"Why're you so hellbent on getting all this slag anyway? It's not like you can sell the stuff, and no one's taking eridium around here nowadays." The chilly air whipped through the Technical as they sped off.

That made Veinsplitter go all quiet. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her staring down at her arm and tracing her thumb along it.

"It'd be better if I show you when we get there. Tomorrow. But don't say I didn't warn you."


	14. Latte

August didn't sleep that well at all, despite how exhausted he felt. Thinking on Veinsplitter's secret worried him, after seeing the look on her face. It was something serious, and he wondered whether all of this was worth the trouble. It had been a nice month, getting to live free for a change but getting away from any kind of drama this would lead to was starting to look tempting.

* * *

_Quitter. You always quit when things start getting tough. I don't know why I ever bothered with you._

His mother's scowling face appeared in his vision, blood running down the side of her face. Three long track marks split the skin open: the attack from a skag, one August thought he had under control.

_Do it or I'll do it for you._

The heavy, rusted gun fell from his hands. How could he kill his own pet? Sure, he'd only had the little thing for four months, but the skag had become the only person he could talk to about his problems.

_Snivelling little shit._

He watched, stunned, as Vallory picked up the gun and pressed it to the side of the skag's head. It was chained so low to the ground that it had no way of fighting back.

The sound of a single gunshot startled him from the sleep he didn't know he'd fallen into. He was covered in sweat and his heart pounded in his ears. August tossed the covers off and swung his legs over the side of the cot. Burying his face in his hands, his mother's words echoed in his head again.

Even in death, he felt like he had to prove her wrong.

* * *

Veinsplitter woke to the smell of something new: fresh coffee. Not that awful motor oil sludge they passed for coffee around here, but the real stuff that was hard to find, unless you knew the right people. That was enough to spring her out of bed and tiptoe to the other side of her hut to discover the source of such a smell.

"Glad to see you're up." August was busying himself over a pot on a makeshift fire. Steam rose from it and he swirled the dark liquid around to keep it from burning. A coffee pot wasn't something she had around here, so he was making do.

"I knew you were good for something." She sidled up to him and peered over his shoulder. The smell was even more enticing this close that she was eager to grab the pot right out of his hand and chug it. A flick to her forehead, however, kept her in check.

"It's not ready. Go sort out what you need for this trip of yours. I don't want us leaving late."

"Well, aren't you being dutiful."

It was nothing of the sort; August just wanted to get this over as quickly as possible. Being caffeinated was just a perk to all of this.

By the time she was done, August had everything poured into two to-go cups.

"Your latte."

"Oooo _fancy_!" Not caring for the state of her tongue, she chugged it down and was delighted by the warmth that ran through her. Veinsplitter practically melted before him as they made their way down to the Technicals. At least she was in a good mood. Maybe he could find out what this problem of hers was before they got there. But even through the cold, the heat of the Dust, and the choking smells of the Blight, she kept the conversation on everything else but the one thing he was interested in. He wondered if that was on purpose or she really just talked this much when she was alone with him.

"Right there, over that hill. You'll see a radio tower near a long pipeline. Can't miss the processing plant from there."

He swiveled the steering wheel in the right direction, thankful for clean air again and the sun baking his skin. This place was swarming with pools of slag all over the place. It took some slowing down for him to avoid them, which was only delaying the inevitable.

"So once we get there," he started. No point in avoiding it now. "I'm not gonna have to shoot you or something, am I?"

Veinsplitter's brows furrowed.

"I'm betting you won't _want_ to, is the thing. But it's freaked out everyone else I've met."

"Everyone else?"

"You're not the first business partner I've had, August. Pretty sure you're not gonna be the last either. Everyone always runs when they see-... well, you'll see."

August felt his stomach flip-flop as he pulled up to the spot and got out. He should have gotten a better shield before coming here. Maybe a grenade. Or he could wait until she was inside and just ditch her here.

_Quitter._

He followed her inside against his better judgment, his gun at the ready in case this place wasn't as abandoned as she'd said. The smell of slag grew stronger and stronger as they headed down the narrow elevator shaft. Lights flared on in their approach and started August.

"They're automatic, don't worry about it."

"Easy for you to say. Last time I was in anything Hyperion, I almost got spaced."

"Oooo, you were up in Helios? You never told me _that_ story."

"I thought you knew everything there was to know about me." He elbowed her in the side, a smug smile on his face. She elbowed him back, hard, and rolled her eyes. They continued this back-and-forth for a while until they finally came to the vats. The bubbling gurgles made August's stomach turn even further. He regretted not having a more filling breakfast before coming here.

That was when he realized why her eyes looked so strange and familiar at the same time.

Veinsplitter gripped one of the valves and twisted it clockwise. The purple sludge gushed out and splashed everywhere. Everywhere except on her person. He watched in horrific slow motion as a long slit along her forearm split open and black, writhing, ephemeral tentacles poked out. They seemed to be reaching out for the slag, lapping at it thirstily. A satisfied sigh escaped her as her eyes rolled back into her head. He swore he saw a few smaller ones poking out of the scar along her scalp. The thought of it finally exhausted the last of his organs' patience. He retreated from the scene to puke behind a set of empty barrels. The combination of slag stench with the smell of stomach bile made his eyes water and he knew he needed to get out of there before he threw up again.

August wiped his mouth in the neck of his shirt and braced himself for the rest of the scene playing out. A sick purple glow surrounded Veinsplitter now and she hovered a few inches from the ground. The pressure in the room changed and his hair stood on end. He understood now why she was concerned about him leaving. Or shooting her.

The black tendrils continued their feasting, long after she reached out to turn the valve off. Eagerly licking at every drop from every surface until there was no sign there'd ever been any slag. Then they retreated within her arm once more, the skin sealing together again. The absence of a scar was surprising, _and_ the least of August's problems.

Veinsplitter turned and smiled proudly. The glow disappeared and she returned to the ground.

"You're still here." The eerie calmness of her voice left August on edge.

"What the fuck..."

"August..."

"What the fuc-!"

He felt all of the air being squeezed out of his chest, choking off his swear. Her expression remained placid, her fist raised in front of her chest. That hypnotic swirl in her eyes was glowing brightly and pulsating.

"I need you to stay calm. Can you do that?"

He didn't have the air to answer, and he could see black creeping up on the edges of his vision. Thankfully for him, she took his silence as agreement and lowered him back to the floor.

_Quitter._

He was in too deep. _Again_. What would he lose this time?


	15. Self-Help

August was silent as they rode the elevator back up. The warm, fresh air was welcoming to the stifling stench from underneath and helped to sway the swelling waves of nausea that pricked his skin with sweat over and over again. Some of it was from what he'd just witnessed; the rest were pure shaken nerves. He wished he hadn't wondered about her name.

"What now?" he heard himself ask, in a voice so foreign, he wasn't sure it was his.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what are you going to do to me? Am I your hostage, are you going to bribe me to keep working with you, am I your slave who's going to keep getting you eridium?" So many scenarios danced through August's panicked mind that he couldn't keep up with them all. His mind even danced with the idea that those tentacles of hers would gobble him right up, never to be seen again.

Veinsplitter glanced at him for a second and shook her head. She was afraid of this. He hadn't run away and he hadn't pulled his gun on her but it was obvious that he didn't trust her anymore. That was what broke her heart the most.

"Nothing. If you wanna go, go. I'm not going to do anything to stop you. Like I said, I don't force my people to do anything."

"You forget, I'm not one of your people."

"Semantics, whatever," she snapped back. "Point is, we don't owe each other shit, so if you wanna pack when we get back, that's up to you."

August ruminated on it as they walked back to the Technical and got in. he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy working out here to his own rules. He was definitely making more profits too since he didn't have to worry about couriers to pay. At the same time, the work did keep him mostly rooted to one spot and that wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"You wouldn't come after me or nothing?"

"Unless you stole my shit." She slammed the door behind her and leaned back in her seat. "And I know you're not that stupid."

"Ah, I've been promoted, then," he answered with a scowl. The engine shook the entire housing as it flared to life. It rattled with each dune they drove over until they were out of the warm air and back into cooler climates.

They say in silence for a long time. August wasn't sure how to broach the subject, afraid that any question into how she got such weird powers would just encourage more silence with a side dish of her anger. Surely, the fact that he stayed must account for something in her eyes. He decided to take the risk.

"You wanna tell me how you got those things to begin with? That kinda shit ain't normal and I've seen a lotta bandits contaminated with slag." Sickly, pale, and even more insane than their normal counterparts. She, on the other hand, seemed quite healthy and in charge of all of her faculties. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the reasons he'd been stealing eridium from him in the first place.

Veinsplitter remained silent for a few minutes more. August hadn't cussed her out or tried to shoot her. Perhaps she'd finally found someone that she could trust with this information. Or maybe he was just trying to get into her good graces so that he could use that info against her. If he did... well, she had ways of making him pay for that.

"I used to work for Hyperion, you know. One of those families that helped to dig up all that slag and eridium shit. It paid good, gave us cushy lives. Until they started getting lazy with safety protocols and workers started coming down sick. My dad and I thought that talking to someone would get it fixed."

"Only it didn't." August knew how Hyperion worked, that any dissenters weren't exactly treated well.

"You guessed it. They scooped us up and decided to turn us into another of that jackhole's experiments. Took me from my dad and pumped me so full of all that slag shit, I didn't know where my body ended and the pain started. You know what it's like to hallucinate for months on end? Always feeling like you're going to throw up but they don't even feed you to give you the satisfaction of getting rid of the feeling?"

August remained silent.

"I don't know what they were trying to figure out, but one day one of those idiots zapped me too hard with one of their prod sticks, and these... _things_ came out of my hands and lashed at 'em. And... then he was dead. Drained completely dry of everything. Just a skeleton in a suit. And then I didn't feel so hungry anymore." Her voice wavered as she spoke. She pressed knuckled to her lips and gazed out the window. The memory of feeling full with that worker wasn't a pleasant one.

"It gave me... it was the first I'd felt powerful in a long time. I didn't have to listen to what they did anymore, I didn't have to take their shit and they found out the hard way that they couldn't stop me. It was..."

"Exhilarating?"

"... yeah, kinda. Once I busted my way out, I started looking for my dad. They told me he was dead, but it wouldn't hurt to look, you know? And... I found him."

"That must've been a relief."

"You'd think so. But he just looked at me with those... dead eyes. Like he'd never seen me before in his life. He was _huge_, bigger than I remember. But I could tell he wasn't in there anymore. Whatever shit they did to him fucked with his head."

August couldn't sympathize; if Hyperion had taken Vallory and put her through some experimentation, he wasn't sure if he would shed a tear for her or not. And that somehow made him feel worse.

"I tried talking to him, telling him everything only the two of us would know... but nothing. Not one sign of recognition. So I left. Kissed him on the cheek and wished him well. And just... walked away. I'm guessing he doesn't remember any of that either. ... so, you tell anyone about this shit, I'll cut your tongue out and shove it up your ass."

"Kinky. And gross."

"I'm serious." She shoved his shoulder, which sent the Technical careening off to the left.

"I know you are. It's called lightening the mood. You should try it sometime."

She scoffed and gave him another shove. His attempts were working, at least, little by little.

"So you ever thought of getting help for that? Your condition?"

"Ha! Help? Who's going to help a bandit? Much less one that used to work for Hyperion?"

August knew that feeling; the look on Fiona's and Sasha's faces when he'd double-crossed them up on Helios, how it squeezed at his chest. That had been the plan from the start, but he hadn't been able to go through with it. Yet, they'd still turned to him for help in the end, taking down the Traveler, all that other bullcrap. He'd screwed them over and still obtained some of their forgiveness.

"There's people out there if you know where to look." August slowed down by the camp gate. Mordecai instantly came to mind. He quickly swept that intrusive thought away. Going to him for help now would be a blow to his ego.

"Only thing I need's self-help, alright? I've been taking care of myself pretty well so far, and I don't need to be indebted to someone else. Got me?" Veinsplitter vaulted herself through the window and stormed into camp. August wasn't sure if he should follow or give her some time to cool off. Deciding on the latter, he switched off the engine of the Technical, propped his feet up on the dashboard, and reclined the seat.

His stomach complained at its state of being empty. It was late afternoon, and he still hadn't replaced the meal he'd ejected onto the floor of the facility. He watched the curls of smoke rising and wondered if he could steal a quick bite without having to confront his business partner so soon. And over a meal, maybe he could finally come to a decision.

* * *

It was almost sundown by the time August found the courage to venture all the way back up to their shared abode. His boots collided with several empty bottles as he stepped inside, the glass clinking against each other in a noise that alerted her to his presence. No use trying to sneak in now.

"You decent?" he called out. He didn't want to find her half-naked like he had the first time he'd come in here.

"'pends on your definition."

She sounded absolutely shit-faced. Was that good or bad, he wondered.

He parted the leather curtains to discover her sitting on her cot with a half-filled bottle in her hands, staring into space at nothing. There was the glossy look of inebriation in her eyes, one that roused the temptation to leave. He didn't do very well with crying drunks.

"I've decided that I'm gonna stay. Long as you don't use those freaky powers on me, we're not gonna have a problem. I just wanted to let you know."

August turned and was about to leave when her hand caught his wrist. He sighed, afraid of what he would see when he turned around.

Veinsplitter stared up at him with a weak smile on her face. She looked like she was doing her best to hold in her tears.

"Stay. Have a drink with me."

"It looks like you've had enough for the both of us."

"Then stay and watch _me_ drink."

"... is that an order?" His shaggy hair fell before his eyes. She looked like she needed someone more than ever, especially with her emotional state, so it was hard for him to consider saying no.

"... how about a request from a friend?"


	16. What is the Time

Alarms sounded in August's head. The Traveler. Gortys was losing steam, her weapons were no longer working on it. An arm gone. Circuitry was fried. In the distance, he spotted the sisters in the Runner, driving right towards the large stone creature. They weren't going to make it, not if they didn't have the Traveler pinned down properly, and Gortys was already losing this fight.

August yelled something. The other people in the cockpit were either unconscious or struggling with their controls. None of them turned around to consider his advice, despite feeling like he was the only one here making sense. He tried again, twisting the sticks this way and that to get Gortys back up on her feet. But instead of responding, she jolted upwards, twisted to one side, and fell back down again.

August! August, you're scaring me!

His arm jolted to one side and collided with something unseen. The shaking stopped. Was everything right again?

A stinging pain erupted across his cheek and his head snapped to one side. It was enough to yank him from his apparent dream to witness Veinsplitter hovering over him.

"What the fuck." He rubbed at the sore spot, still confused from waking up so suddenly.

"What the fuck yourself! You were thrashing about in your sleep! Nightmare?"

"What is the time?" he asked. He didn't want to discuss what he'd dreamed. This wasn't a therapy session.

Taking that as a cue that the conversation was over, she threw the covers off and made her way to the bathroom.

"It's early. About eight."

August closed his eyes again and hummed. The sudden waking had given birth to a dull headache behind his eyes. Being awake was better than being in that dream, he figured, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. This early, he could get a lot done today and still have time to go back to the Skag and see how things were doing.

... maybe he could even give Mordecai a call.

He shook that thought from his head. The old man would take that as a sign to spring his scrawny ass over here to make sure he was okay, and August didn't want that kind of attention. An apology was out of the question too, since he had nothing to apologize for. He was happy out here, without Mordecai hovering over him like some kind of mother hen, and there was never a reason to apologize for being happy.

"What're your plans for the day?" he asked as he gathered up his hair to the top of his head and knotted it together. He was going to have to get a hair cut soon with how much trouble his mop was giving him.

"Nothing, really. Got nothing in the works until the end of the week."

"Raid?"

"Yeah. Some bearded weirdo's moved in where all that space station crashed, been calling himself some kinda bandit king nowadays. I was thinking of seeing just how good his peeps are and whether they're any good in a fight."

August froze. She was talking about Vaughn. He thought the scrawny little accountant would have died by now, surrendered to the wastes and have his mind dried up by the bleaching sun. August probably should have given him more credit but there was no way he was going to be able to spare the ex-Hyperion from the likes of Veinsplitter's army. August had already vouched for Mordecai and stepping in again to spare a bandit leader may rub her the wrong way.

He quickly hardened his heart against the situation. This was the risk Vaughn ran trying to run his own camp out here, with no experience and some pencil pushers to try and keep everything organized. The strong survived and the weak died, who was he to interfere with that balance when those were just the rules of Pandora?

* * *

"What's the bandanna for?"

August fastened the knot behind his head and pulled the edge of the fabric over his nose and mouth.

"Trying out a new look, seeing if it's intimidating," he replied with a shrug. A week had passed faster than he realized, without a single message sent to Vaughn to warn him of what was coming. And why would he? They weren't friends, they barely even knew each other. Still, he was somewhat close to Sasha and Fiona, and it would be better if Vaughn didn't know who was sinking a knife between his ribs. Quick and easy, he told himself, if he was forced to do the deed. But he was sure Veinsplitter wanted that moment saved for herself. He would happily let her have it too if it meant he could distance himself from Vaughn's death.

Still, his stomach turned the entire way, hour by hour passed, and he was sure he would screw something up, give her some sign that his heart wasn't in this. But she remained oblivious the entire way, engaging in joyful conversation he didn't really pay much attention to. She finally went quiet when they drove up to a tall metal wall that curved around in both directions.

"This is the place. Get your war face on." She hopped out, giddy as could be, and waved to the other bandits that followed. The psychos erupted with their babble and hollers, ready to shed some blood that wasn't theirs. The goliaths went in first, which turned out to be a good idea. Turrets popped up out of nowhere and started spraying the area. The hulking brutes returned fire, rending the metal and tearing them apart with gunfire. The goliaths had taken a few shots in return too, their oozing wounds peeking through their filthy shirts, but they seemed to be eager for more.

The hollering got louder when they finally busted down the door and started pouring in like ants finding a sugary snack. August remained at Veinsplitter's side, following her lead on this for once. He wanted to look like just another grunt, another insignificant peon not drawing attention to themselves. Anything that got them in and out as quickly as possible so that he could wipe this day form his memory with a lot of alcohol.

And then he saw. A stark red spot on top of one of the buildings in the distance. Don't be stupid, August, he told himself. There are plenty of people who could wear red. What are you, obsessed with the guy? It was difficult to conceive that the world would be so small, that the hunter would be _here_ of all places when he'd been the one hunting down Rhys and Vaughn and Fiona and Sasha in the first place. Why would he be working for this ragtag group of bandits?

The first crack received a reply of splintering bone and exploding brain meat, one unlucky psycho dropping dead to the ground.

"Get down! Take out that sniper!" Veinsplitter barked. The others would be fodder for now, clearing a path for them to do the real work.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

August fired a blind shot in the sniper's direction from his Jakob's. It was too far to tell whether he'd even come close and he didn't want to chance a look. Meeting the gaze of someone he possibly knew would steal the rest of his courage.

Then he heard the screen of that infernal bird and he knew they were _really fucked_.

"Scatter!" He yelled, shoving Veinsplitter behind some cover. Now there was no question about it who it was on top of that roof. The bandits, however, weren't bound to his instructions and carried on straight towards the cluster of buildings.

An angry yell from one corner redirected their attention. "Slab King!" one of the psychos yelled. Barreling towards them was the other guy that used to work for Vallory. August had never seen him up close before but the sight of him was making him regret even coming. Bullets weren't going to stop this guy, not with _that_ kind of momentum.

"Now, Tina!"

A line of buried explosives kicked up sand and psycho alike. The Slab King leapt through the spray and slammed through the second like of attack. August could stop and marvel at the sight of the large man at work, or he could stick to the plan and keep going. He chanced a look at Veinsplitter and saw the look in her eye. She wasn't going to back down from this. Cursing silently, he took a few potshots at the Slab King before joining her towards her destination. She was fiddling with her SDU as they sprinted from cover to cover, trying their best to stay out of the sniper's scope.

"Let's see how these fuckers like this." A Maliwan rocket launcher materialized in her hands. August felt his heart stop. He chanced a glance over the chunk of metal they hid behind. Mordecai was still there, scope trained to his eye as he picked off the rest of the psychos one by one. August could surrender, reveal himself, and screw up the mission. Or he could watch his partner obliterate a good friend.

Thankfully, he wasn't given any time to make that choice. As soon as Veinsplitter stood to took take aim, a blast of hot air surrounded them both, knocking them back onto their asses. A red-haired woman floated before them with wings of fire and rings of golden-yellow swirls covering her left arm.

"Careful. You could hurt yourself, kiddo." The smarm oozed from her voice and made August feel like a child again.

"Speak for yourself, Siren." Veinsplitter got to her feet and made a sweeping gesture towards the winged woman. The skin parted on her arm once more and the black tentacles lashed out at her. The closer they got to the Siren, the more solidified they became, thick black ropes against all that glowing hot orange.

"Lilith!" Mordecai's panicked voice filled the air above before there was another crack of the rifle. The bullet passed right through the wriggling mass, leaving them unscathed.

The colour from this Lilith's face and fiery glow faded, being leeched up by Veinsplitter's slag-inspired powers. Lilith descended to the ground on shaky legs, her hands clawing at the writhing mass to get them away from her. To no avail. She grew more and more ashen, and August saw her eyes starting to roll into the back of her head. She was dying a slow, painful death. It made his chest ache.

Another crack restarted his heart as it ripped a savage scream out of Veinsplitter. The tentacles retreated into her bloodied arm, leaving Lilith's prone body behind. August was still frozen in fear. Confusion. Worry. Without purpose.

He pressed his gun to the side of Lilith's head. In a panic, he knew he needed to defend himself before someone else decided what to do with him.

"Either of you takes one more step, and I blast her brains out," he barked to Mordecai and the Slab King. He shivered with the thought of having to carry out his empty threat.

"Nuh-uh, amigo. You shoot her, and you'll barely make it outta here with your ass between your legs." The Truxican drawl was cold and steely.

"You sure you wanna try after what you just saw her do?" He nodded at Veinsplitter. Another empty bluff; he wasn't even sure she could use her powers again after taking a bullet through the arm. "Your Siren friend here might be the only match for her."

"Mordecai, he's stalling!"

"I know he is, Brick. So am I."

August felt a sharp sting in his neck, and when he reached up to feel the area, he found a tiny dart sticking out of it. Panic accelerated his heart rate and sent the tranquilizer hurrying through his veins. His legs went to jelly beneath him and he collapsed into the sand, everything around him going blurry. Just before he blacked out, he managed to make out a few muffled words as two shadows hovered over him.

"And here I was hopin' better for you..."


	17. Oi

"Oi. Wake up."

Brick dumped the bucket of cold water onto the unconscious blonde. At Mordecai's request, of course. It sprang the bartender up from the edges of death and sent him sputtering onto his side. He choked and cough and swore, cursing their families and descendants for years to come.

Then it slowly dawned on him that there was no longer a bandanna covering his face.

"Shiiiit..." He continued to cough as he rolled onto his side, his hands bound behind him. He was getting real sick of finding himself in this position.

"Yeah, shit is right. I told you to be careful of who you ran with. Now look where that's got you." Mordecai planted a boot on August's shoulder and pushed him onto his back. August hated that tone in his voice, that air of disappointment. He coughed and spat a wad of saliva onto the hunter's pant leg. Mordecai was not impressed.

"I knew it was you the second you stepped into the camp, so don't act like I blew your cover. I left you at that place, remember? And no one at Hollow's Point's known where you've been. I woulda heard if you died out there like a dumb piece of shit."

"Well, ain't I lucky. So what're you gonna do with me? String me up? Drag me behind a Runner? Turn me over to _Vaughn_?"

Mordecai and Brick both raised their heads and turned to look behind them. August lifted his head, more than was comfortable, to spy the silhouette of the bearded man standing in the hallway.

"I'm not the same person you left behind, August," he said calmly. So calm that August felt a small tingle at the base of his neck. This wasn't the hyperactive worrywart who didn't know the right side of a gun barrel if it was pointed at to him. Time on Pandora had hardened him a little.

"Can you guys give me the room?"

Brick sauntered out without another word. Mordecai had different ideas.

"We're gonna have a talk later, you and I." He nudged the toe of his boot against August's shoulder again before following suit.

"Nice haircut. Or lack, thereof." Vaughn came into view and kneeled beside him once the other had left, working on the knot that kept August's hands bound together. "What were you really trying to do here, August?"

"I think you know."

"And that's what worries me. I get it, you're lost without any of us around you to-"

August leapt on Vaughn once his hands were free and pinned him to the ground. The fury swelled within him so fast that he wasn't able to stop himself. Years and years of being belittled, being told that e was never good enough, couldn't do anything on his own... when was everyone going to shut the fuck up about it?

"I'm not lost! Why the fuck does everyone keep saying that!? I know _exactly_ what I'm doing. This isn't some journey to find myself or make amends or try to build some stupid connection to my dead mom, okay? You all think I need some crutches to get through life like I'm some unstable cripple, but I'm not!"

Vaughn winced and whined under his grip, his hands clawing at August's grip. He was definitely strong, but he didn't have the leverage or the weight to get August off of him.

Vaughn somehow found the strength to jab two fingers right into August's throat, removing all the wind from his sails. August collapsed to the ground clutching at his neck, coughing horribly to stop his throat from spasming. Vaughn wasn't at all interested in giving him a break, though. His boot connected squarely with August's ribs, sending him spinning to the ground once more.

"You've always been a bully, you know that? There's always one of you around! First Hugo, and then you! Thinking that just because you're tall and good-looking and can beat people's faces in that you're owed the world!" Vaughn kicked him again, much harder this time. August was sure something inside was cracked.

"_Some_ of us had to crawl our way up from the bottom of the barrel to get to where we are. _Some_ of us didn't have a _dear old mommy_ to give us an empire to work from. _Some_ of us had to swat books all night just to keep up with the rest of the kids so they wouldn't treat you like you're stupid!"

August tried to roll with each of his kicks, but each one came faster and harder than the previous one. Eventually, he was pinned up against the wall without an escape. So he curled up into a ball as best as he could to spare his ribs from any more punishment.

Vaughn was huffing and panting when he was done, and August was sure he heard a sniffle.

"Looks like... I'm not the only one with repressed shit. You think it was nice having Vallory as a mom? You think I didn't have to work hard just to make her happy?" His chest felt tight and swollen, which made it more difficult to breathe outside of the pain. "All you had to do... was sit in some cushy chair... and pound your fingers on a fucking calculator. _That's_ what you got paid for. Not scraping brains off your boots. Not... ungh... torturing guys for info, and not doing every menial task your mom asks you to do because if you don't, she's gonna bitch slap you."

"No, I just had the threat of _death_ hanging over my head if I didn't keep my bosses happy. You think it was _nice_ working at Hyperion!?"

"You chose to work there! I can't exactly disown my mom!"

"Why not?! _I did_."

The sudden silence was so arresting, they were both frozen in place. August had no comeback for that, and Vaughn wasn't sure why he'd even blurted that out in the first place.

"Oi! What's going on!?" Mordecai stormed into the room, his gun drawn. Their yelling had gotten out of control and startled the hunter into action. Seeing August on the ground once more raised a whole bunch of red flags but he wasn't in charge here. He had no say in what went on in Vaughn's camp.

"You alright?" He touched the smaller man's shoulder and was met with a shrug to get rid of his touch. Mordecai rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him.

"As much as I wouldn't mind watching you two beat the shit out of each other, I can't let you do that."

"He tried to kill me!" Vaughn wheeled around. His eyes were a little red.

"Yeah? And you used to run around with Fiona, Sasha, _and_ Athena. People his mom hired us to deal with. Not to mention you working for Hyperion. Long time ago, I woulda shot you for less." The hunter folded his arms in front of his chest. "Point is, I'm not saying you gotta forgive and hold hands and dance in circles like everything's fine. But you guys worked together once upon a time. You tryin' to tell me that don't mean nothin'? I'm not saying you just let 'em go without consequences. But what's killing 'em gonna do other than make you feel better?"

Vaughn thought it over for a while, despite wanting to satisfy his anger instead of exercising common sense.

"So what are you suggesting?"

"An alliance of sorts? I mean, that woman managed to get in here pretty quick despite your defences. And she's got those... weird freaky powers-"

"Yeah, _don't_ remind me about that. ... how's Lilith doing?"

"Resting. She'll be fine. But we gotta deal with that... Veinwhatever her name is."

"Veinsplitter," August croaked. "And you think she's gonna want to hear anything you have to say?." The pain was starting to subside a little, but not enough that he could move from his fetal position.

"Not if she doesn't have a choice," Vaughn replied.

"You piss her off, she's gonna use those things of hers and turn you into dust. You saw what she almost did to your girl. Nothing you can do to stop her if she's got her mind set to it."

Vaughn and Mordecai looked at each other for a second.

"Then _you_ talk to her," Mordecai suggested.

"Me?"

"You know her better than us and she trusts you. You think she's gonna listen to Vaughn or the asshole who put a bullet through her arm? Plus she almost killed Lil, so I got no interest being near her right now."

August closed his eyes. From one difficult situation to the next, he wondered when his life was going to stop snowballing into one impossible hell. The fact that they were talking about all of this and making arrangements without his input was only pissing him off more. As pissed as he could get with bruised ribs, anyway. What else could he do though? If he said no, either of them would go have a conversation with Veinsplitter and things would end badly. He wasn't sure he'd be able to make her just leave, though, and he was sure she had no interest in working for other people. She'd said as much about working for Hyperion.

"... fine. But if she says no, you let us go about our business. She learned the hard way not to come messing about these parts anymore."

"At least you still got some common sense in you." Mordecai leaned over and offered his hand. August smacked it away and slowly pulled himself to his feet. He remained doubled over as he headed to the door; it still hurt too much to stand upright. Plus he wanted to spare himself the look on both their faces.

Brick was the one who led him to the other building they were holding her in. He was mostly silent the entire way, which August could appreciate, until he opened the door for him.

"Not everyone's out to get you, you know. I know you think Mordy's trying to control you but he's only looking out for you. That's something you should keep in mind." Brick's steely scowl pierced through him even after he stepped inside. Maybe the big man was right or maybe he was just biased. That wasn't a concern for August at the moment.

Veinsplitter was gagged and chained to the far wall. A heavy-looking collar was strapped tight to her neck and he saw the streaks of tear stains on her cheeks. Her eyes were closed but she otherwise looked unharmed.

"Hey..." He wasn't sure what to do, seeing her in this position. She'd never really expressed any sort of vulnerability, save for sharing her past, but even then she'd talked about it matter-of-factly instead of as a badge of shame. What she was and what she could do was the result of other people's decisions, not hers. So when she didn't respond, August was torn between remaining exactly where he was or casting down the walls of indifference to see if she was okay.

He went with the latter, having nothing else to do. He kneeled before her and touched her cheek: no response. Gently, he turned her head this way and that. Veinsplitter's eyes shot open at that moment and she lunged at him, wild fury in her eyes. Had she not been gagged or chained to the wall, he was sure she would have bitten a chunk out of the side of his face. When she saw it was him, however, she backed down, slumping back to the ground. What the hell had they done to her?

"It's me. I'm just going to take this off, okay?" He gestured at his own mouth in reference to her gag. She nodded in agreement, looking exhausted. There were dark rings under her eyes and the skin around the collar looked red and raw. It was giving off a low hum too.

"Get this fucking thing off me," she hissed quickly once the cloth was out of her mouth. She strained against the chains and summoned her dark tendrils to do their bidding. But at the first sign of them, the collar flared to life with a buzzing that reminded August of a cloud of gnats. That drew a terrible scream out of her. August could see the muscles in her arm go taut, saw her jaw tense up against whatever that device was doing to her. August dug his fingers beneath the leather to try and ease some of her pain. Her skin was hot to the touch and he was sure he was making it worse, but when he tried to pull his hand away, she trapped his hand in place.

"Stay. That's... a relief. Right there." Her eyes fluttered closed with the small comfort she'd found. The comfort he'd help find for her. This wasn't a shock collar of some kind or else his fingers would be on fire. Peeking beneath the leather didn't reveal any sharp needles jabbing into her either. None of this made any sense.

"Oi! Big man!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I want to talk to Mordecai! Now!"

But he was going to get to the bottom of it.


	18. apocalypse

"You wanna tell me what that damn thing is around her neck?" August didn't like leaving Veinsplitter alone in that room but Mordecai had been adamant about not having this conversation in front of her. As pissed as August was about the entire situation, Mordecai somehow always managed to gain some amount of his trust. He wasn't sure if it was because they'd had so many conversations at the Skag or because he'd helped him out on a few missions, but Brick's words were sinking in. Mordecai had never held any ill will for him, nor were his actions or words ever meant to be vengeful.

And yet, August didn't want to fall into his old, comfortable ways of thinking. He wanted to be his own man, making his own decisions, even if that went against the wishes of others. It was making that change, he found, he was having a hard time with. Working with the bandit queen had given him that start, given him the freedom to soar for a bit, but all of that aimless roaming, not having a structure of any kind, was starting to feel like a sinkhole waiting to swallow him up.

"Why you wanna know?"

It didn't help that the hunter barely raised his voice at him. He expected Mordecai to be more pissed with him, tearing him down to show him the error of his ways. Hell, that would make him feel a lot better about the anger penned up inside him because then he'd have an appropriate avenue to release it all. Instead, he was faced with his calm demeanor and it would inappropriate to start yelling at him for no reason.

"Because that shit's hurting her and not me when I tried to pry it off." August readjusted the ice pack against his ribs. The bruises would look ugly for a long time but at least the pack was helping with the pain. "What's it do?"

Mordecai shifted his gaze to something else - what, August couldn't tell - but it was obvious he didn't want to talk about this.

"Not my place to say, but let's just say it stops her using those powers of hers. Keeps her... under control."

"Like a dog on a leash."

"For the time being. She almost killed Lil, and she's stronger than any of us. You said so yourself, she'd kill Vaughn if she had the chance."

"Yeah? Like you haven't killed bandits before?"

"This is different-"

"This _isn't_ different, Mordecai! Just cuz you got names to go with faces doesn't make any of this any different!" August closed the distance between them and jabbed a finger against his chest. "_This_ is how bandits work! They run around, wiping each other out until only one is left standing, and then the cycle starts all over again. What's so hard to understand?"

Mordecai glanced down at his prodding finger and then at his face. His expression remained placid and he still didn't utter a word.

"If you three hadn't been here, we would've taken this place no problem and added another location to out stronghold. Big. Fucking. Deal. But you think because that snide little shit and I worked one job together that I owe him anything? What has he ever done for me, huh? What puts him on my list of 'people not to kill today'?"

Mordecai lunged for him, and in that moment, August was convinced that he was going to have more bruises to nurse. But when he felt the hunter's arms around him instead of throwing him to the ground, he was left stunned. Crushed against Mordecai's skinny chest, he was left with no escape from his words.

"Cuz you're not that guy, August. I don't want you to be that guy. You're hurtin' and I know you keep sayin' you're not lost but I've been where you are. Maybe you and your ma didn't have the best relationship, but she was still your ma. That's not an easy hole to fill, and going about it this way's not gonna help you. She might make you feel free, but you're only clipping your own wings in the process. I want more for you than jus' being some bandit out there, just like the rest."

August wanted out of this. He wanted to be away from these words that were needling so deep into his skin that it was making it uncomfortable for him to be in. He didn't want the past month to feel like a mistake, _a mistake he'd made_, just to come to terms with the loss of Vallory. He didn't want to admit that Mordecai could be right, that he was clamouring at straws to find one that would fit. He was sick of admitting that he was wrong.

Slowly, his arms soon looped around the hunter's back and he felt all of the tension oozing out of him. Admitting he was wrong, making mistakes, usually resulted in a clout to the ear and harsh words that tore down his ego. But here was someone who'd been in his corner for a while, had even offered to be there if his plans with Veinsplitter ever fell through. Mordecai hadn't even judged him for his choices, only warned him that things weren't what they seemed. And here he was, still offering words of encouragement and advice that he would remain, no matter the choices August made.

It was strange. Comforting. Solid. The once-bartender couldn't remember a time he'd ever felt that way.

"What do we do now?" he finally croaked, his throat dry from emotion. He was exhausted of the silence.

"It's your call." Mordecai broke the embrace and quickly glanced around, smoothing out the front of his leathers. "You worked with her, you know her best."

"She's gonna be pissed if we take that collar thing off. And I can't save you from her powers." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He wasn't sure if there was any other way to make peace between her and Vaughn. She had too much pride to want to broker a deal with him. And he definitely wasn't interested in having her killed.

Then it suddenly dawned on him.

"I could be the middle man."

"Come again?"

"I got couriers. Guys who could go back and forth between the camps. Hollow Point's same distance from either of them and I tell her she's helping out Vault Hunters, that might change the story. She'd be stupid to ever want to mess with this place again."

"If you think it'd work. You'd know best." Mordecai twirled at the end of his beard in thought.

Except August didn't. He was grabbing at mere straws again, voicing ideas that came to him. The fact that Mordecai hadn't raised any dissenting opinions, however, gave him some confidence that his idea could be sound.

"... she's gonna think I betrayed her."

"... probably."

"I don't want her to... She's been through a lot of shit, Mordecai. She trusted me." Anguish tainted his voice, more than he was comfortable with. Mordecai took note of it too but remained steadfast in not saying anything. "She's probably never gonna talk to me again."

"She might be pissed for a while, but if she trusts you like you said, she'll see that you still do good work and that you're still looking out for her. She can't just ignore that."

August suddenly recalled that first morning. How she'd flocked to him, recalling his exploits, that look in her eyes when she'd discovered who he really was. He'd found it annoying at first but now he found himself relishing that attention she'd given him. Like he'd meant the world to her. And now he was going to shatter all of that.

What was that saying again? Don't ever meet your heroes?

"Yeah. I'll talk to her. Gimme whatever it is you've got to get that collar off her and a good hour." August wasn't sure he'd be able to pull this off, but he was going to try his damned hardest.

* * *

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He helped her up to her feet and pressed a bottle of water into her hands. She gladly took it and drained the thing in half. The ugly collar was sitting on the ground, kicked into one corner. A ring of raw flesh covered the perimeter of her neck; she shrugged her shoulders to try and hide it as best as she could.

"And what about this?" She turned her back to him and tugged her shirt down. August didn't see anything there.

"What about what?"

"The _knife_ you shoved into my back," she hissed and splashed some of the water onto his face. "You told me you'd stay, you bootlicker! Just because your friend is here doesn't mean you can just break your promises!"

August was ill-prepared to defend himself and ended up with a nose full of water. It took him several minutes of sputtering and sneezing to get his sinuses clear again

"He's not my... I'm not breaking anything. I'm trying to make everyone happy here." He wiped his face with his shirt, trying to maintain his composure. He had no idea how Mordecai managed to do it.

"I was happy with just you, you dolt! I was fine with the way things were! I don't want to work for these-"

"You're not working _for_ them, you're working with them. That guy that shot you, the Siren? All three of them are Vault Hunters, _and_ they've got more friends. Are those really people you wanna fight? You wanna lose more numbers trying to take out this camp?"

The mentioning of Vault Hunters took some of the wind out of her sails. Veinsplitter's eyes went wide. She gently touched at the fresh scar around her neck.

"I guess you're right. How many other bandits can say they've tussled with Vault Hunters and survived. _And_ I almost took down a Siren."

Seeing the enthusiasm in her eyes once more lifted August's spirit. Perhaps taking a risk on this bandit life hadn't been such a mistake after all. Maybe it was exactly where he'd been meant to be...

"I'm still working with you on this. I just won't be _in_ your camp anymore. So it's not like I'm going to be gone forever."

"Just not as often as I'd like." Veinsplitter roughly grabbed him by the goatee and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. Before he could come to terms with what was happening, she'd shoved him away again. "I'm gonna miss seeing that ass in those jeans."

August cleared his throat and worked up the best half-smile he could.

"Sorry, you can't take it with you. I'm kind of attached to it."

"Ha! Look at you making jokes."

"Hey, I can make jokes."

"Yeah. Bad ones."

"_You_ laughed."

"Out of _pity_." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Pity is what you're calling it now. I'm pretty sure _you_ were the one fawning over _me_ and my good looks and charm, so don't turn around-"

"Oh my god, would you listen to yourself? Your ego is crushing me!"

"Who do you think inflated it to begin with?!"

* * *

Four days of overseeing a deal between Veinsplitter and Vaughn had been an exercise in patience and determination. A rift still remained between him and the ex-Hyperion accountant, one that August wasn't sure how to confront. Or that he should. Things were still tender between them and pushing the limits could only make things worse. He was going to have to let things simmer for a while before broaching the subject again.

Veinsplitter, on the other hand, had been in nothing but good spirits since their conversation. Even the Vault Hunters were surprised by her willingness to work with them after everything that had happened. Lilith was a touch bitter about the whole thing, but Mordecai assured them privately that it was just her lightly bruised ego talking.

And once it was all over, it was back to Hollow's Point. Back to the place he thought he would never return, the literal hole-in-the-wall he'd abandoned for "greener pastures." The smell of the town, the cool, clammy air... This was home to him, he'd come to realize, after so much time away. This was where he was meant to be all along, now that he had a new direction in life.

"Hey, boss! Long time no see!"

Tector was the first person he encountered in the middle of town, flapping his huge arms back and forth in greeting.

"Just went on a little vacation, you know? To clear my head." The large Hodunk didn't need to know where exactly he'd gone. He likely didn't care anyway.

"Hope you had a great time, boss. I've been watching over the Skag for you in the meantime. Just in case."

"Thanks, Tector. And yeah, it was great. Probably one of the best times of my life."


	19. Be Kind

Be kind, he told himself. Be kind to the ones who had brought him here and even the ones who were no longer here. Be kind to even the smallest, most insignificant person in Hollow's Point. Be kind because he wasn't aware of their struggles, whatever they may be.

But most importantly, be kind to himself.

After a month of being away, it was much easier to see things from a new perspective. August no longer saw the world as being against him - wise words from someone like Brick - and he found himself take fewer things for granted. His grip on most things in his life was loosened; there was no longer the need to dictate everything down to the letter just in case. If shit happened, it happened. He just had to roll with the punches and let it be.

The first thing he did with his "new kindness" was have a half-day off sale on shots and mixed drinks. Drinks were flying across the bar all afternoon and evening, and helped him to get rid of most of his stock that was close to expiring. Even at half-off, he still made more money in one night than he had in a long time. And it made the people happier, which was always a good thing to see.

"Hey, nice hair," one patron commented, gesturing at his floppy, blonde mane. He'd gotten so used to having it long that he'd forgotten not everyone was used to seeing him like this.

"Thanks. I was thinking of keeping it." He toweled dry another shot glass and placed it amongst the clean stack.

"Not a bad choice. Makes your cheekbones look nicer."

"My cheekbones, huh? Never really paid attention to that sort of thing, but I'll take your word for it," he replied with a shrug.

He was exhausted by the time he counted up his cash and went to bed. Downstairs was dark but he could still smell the light tang of body odour and spilled alcohol on the floor that he'd have to clean up in the morning. After tossing his clothes into the filthy pile on the floor, he flopped onto his bed and promptly fell asleep.

Be kind. Let them be. See what the world brings you when you're not trying to squeeze every single drop out of it.

His dreams instantly took him to Veinsplitter. Her laugh, her smile... for a bandit queen, she'd actually treated him quite kindly. Her reputation had nothing to do with her disposition, which had made her all the more approachable with her concerns.

She stood on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a wide, blue ocean as far as the eye could see. She seemed to be eager to take the plunge, practically vibrating with anticipation. August's feet turned to jelly when he peered over the edge and saw how high up they were.

"If you take my hand, we'll be alright."

He wanted to believe that, but there were large jagged rocks jutting out of the white, foamy swells of water. There was no way they would be able to avoid those once they jumped.

"Take. My. Hand."

He wanted to turn and run, to be away from all of this. She grabbed his hand before he could, pulled him close, and jumped over the edge with him. August felt the rush of cold wind pass them as they fell and heard her maniacal laughter in his ears. He didn't want to see how fast the water was approaching, even though it felt like they were falling forever.

And then he jolted awake, afraid of the pain he would experience _when_ he hit the bottom. His heart hammered against his ribs and his hair clung to his slightly damp neck. Checking the clock, he hadn't been asleep for very long, just a little over three hours. That left him with a lot of time with nothing to do before the sun came up.

He got up to wash the sweat off his neck and crawled back into bed with his ECHO device.

A: Hey, you up?

It took about five minutes to get a response.  
V: Miss me already?

A: Not sucking up, but it was pretty nice working with you.

V: You can always come back if you ever want to give up that job.

A: And stop making money instead of you deciding how much I get? Not likely. Plus I give you free shots.

V: Okay, that's one bonus I don't mind keeping. What's the occasion?

A: For?

V: Texting me this late.

A: Can't sleep. I had a dream with you in it.

V: Oooo was I wearing that lace thing?

August ran a hand down his face. This was probably a mistake of some kind.

A: No. What you were wearing doesn't matter.

V: Spoilsport.

A: Anyway.

A: You were at this cliff and you wanted me to jump in with you. And when I said no you grabbed me and jumped off.

V: Well that was a shitty thing for me to do.

V: I should have at least said please.

A: Point is

A: Actually, I don't know what the point is. I just

A: I had that dream and you were the first person I texted when I couldn't go back to sleep.

V: Interesting. You want me to come over and tuck you back into bed?

A: What NO

Honestly, it didn't sound like a bad idea. It might help to have someone else in the bed with him. But agreeing to her teasing would only rewards her and encourage her to continue with it in the future.

V: Your loss. We could just stay up like this and talk too if you want.

A: You sure? I don't wanna keep you up.

V: It's fine. I've got nothing going on tomorrow, and we'd both be up talking anyway. Face-to-face I mean.

A: Maybe just until I fall asleep.

V: You don't answer for five minutes, and I'll assume the worst.

They continued for hours, hashing out details for future visits, talking about random things they'd heard on the news... it was a decent way to pass the time that got his mind off that awful dream. It was refreshing to have someone in his corner for once, someone that had no expectations for him to meet. Who would just let him be himself instead of...

Be nice, he reminded himself. Be nice and let it flow over you.

A: I think I'm going to call it quits here. I can barely keep my eyes open.

V: Ha. Quitter.

A: Yeah whatever.

V: Call me in the morning?

A: Sure.

He tucked the ECHO under his pillow before he got her next reply and curled up onto his side. He didn't have a rough day tomorrow either, but there was no point in trying to fight sleep any longer. Tomorrow, he was going to have to call Mordecai and discuss the nature of everything that had happened between them since he'd left. To be nice, of course. The air needed to be cleared at some kind, he told himself.


	20. It's a date

"You wanna tell me why we're here so early in the morning?" Mordecai worked his fingers under his goggles to rub at his eye. He was usually a morning person, but helping Vaughn with the affairs of his camp had taken more out of him than he'd realized.

August continued to flip the box of cigarettes end over end in his hand. Even with the hour it had taken Mordecai to get here, he hadn't thought up the proper words for everything he had to say. He should have listened to his gut and written it all down beforehand. Then it all might have sounded too cheesy, but saying something was better than sitting here in silence.

"I wanted to talk. About everything." He wasn't sure how far back to go, if he should really apologize for everything or just explain why he did what he'd done or said the things he'd said. Conversing had never really been his strong suit.

"Well? Talk."

August's mind was abuzz with too many thoughts to sort out. It was becoming so noisy, that a numbness washed over him as he tried to figure out where to start. He had to soon, too. Mordecai was starting to sound impatient and the last thing he wanted was to waste his time and get even further on his bad side.

"Thanks for... sticking in my corner even after I cussed you out. I wanted to do things my way for a change, you know? And I shouldn't have pushed you away like that because of... what I'm saying is that you didn't deserve that and if you don't want anything to do with me anymore, I'll understand."

He cut himself off before he said anymore, afraid that he would start rambling if given the chance. He did feel a little better now that he _had_ said something. All he had left was to see how Mordecai would respond.

The hunter snatched the carton out of his hands and tapped one out. Once it was between his lips, he promptly lit the end of it. August watched the smoke curl around those goggles. Damn, he wished he could see his eyes so that he could stop guessing.

"Takes a big man to admit when his choices ain't perfect." Mordecai took a long drag from the cigarette and shot twin jets of smoke from his nostrils. The ashy end grew longer and longer the more he worked at it. Only then did August realize he wasn't saying anything else.

"That's it?" He'd expected more beratement for his actions, so it was arresting that that was all Mordecai had to say.

"What, you want me to cuss you out, tell you what an idiot you're being? Ain't my place. You got your big boy pants on, you can live with your own choices. Is that all you called me here for?"

"Well... yeah." August rubbed at the back of his neck. He'd been expecting more of a fight about this. Without the conflict, there was nothing else to really do or talk about.

Mordecai groaned and got to his feet, stretching his back out in the process.

"You coulda just called on the ECHO to tell me all this, ya know."

"I wanted to do it in person. I owe you that much." August stood with him and snatched his carton back. He wasn't even going to ask him to pay for the stick he'd taken. "You... got the day free?"

Mordecai turned, his brows high.

"Depends."

"You're good with all that reading... stuff. You wanna look over these contracts for me and see if they're sound?"

"Worst kinda date I've ever been on," Mordecai replied, his half-smile sending the cigarette to the corner of his mouth. "You really know how to charm 'em."

August was about to refute the idea - he was being serious about this! - yet he couldn't help the fact that his neck felt rather warm at the suggestion.

"Yeah, well, I'm kinda rusty and I don't know what old farts like you do for fun. Eating your fibre, shaking sticks at little kids, that sorta deal?" He decided to play it off instead of letting it get to him. Because that would only give Mordecai more fuel to work with.

"You're right. You _are_ rusty." Mordecai flicked the half-finished cigarette in his direction. It bounced lightly off August's vest, only leaving behind a small bit of ash on the fabric. "Yeah, I'll take a look. For a mug o'your iced tea."

"Iced tea. Wow, you _are _old."

"_Sobriety_, remember?"

"I'll get your favourite blanket on your favourite rocking chair, along with some peanut brittle."

"Glad to see you're still the _asshole dick_ I remember."


	21. Key Maker

August stared at his reflection in the mirror. Half of his blonde hair was in the sink, shorn down to a few inches above his scalp. He didn't know why he let it get so long in the first place. Trying to play at bandit hadn't worked out too well for him.

It was back to the daily grind of running The Purple Skag, pretending as if nothing had ever happened. It was easier to just move on because that was what he had the best practice at. Sasha. Vallory. All that treasure in the Vault. All of his hard work and he didn't have anything to show for any of it. He didn't know why he even tried anymore, thinking that some new venture would bring him closer to his true calling. The only thing he'd discovered was disappointment and wasted time. It was time he started thinking about himself for a change, without getting involved in someone else's drama.

He was about to go in again with the razor when his ECHO device buzzed.

::I have information you want.

August rolled his eyes. If he had a dollar for every time he got a message like that...

::It's the keymaker. I know your mother.

The last part didn't get his attention - there were plenty of people who would use his mother's name to get a meeting with him, but the part about keymaker... Fiona had never mentioned him by name, but they'd met right at the end of it all.

::Depends on what kind of info you've got. Otherwise, don't waste my time.

::Info Sasha would want you to have.

That brought a sour note to August's mood. For this guy to use Sasha like that... August knew he couldn't say no.

::Fine. 2 hours, Hollow Point. Be on time or fuck off.

August tossed the device over his shoulder without waiting for a response. It had been almost half a year since Sasha had left to go find her sister. He couldn't have forced her to stay even if he wanted to. Family was family, and they looked more tight-knit than he ever knew family could be. It wasn't as if they were still a thing anyway...

Two hours crawled by slower than he wanted, and that made him antsy. Eventually, a loud knock on the bar's front door roused him from whatever bored stupor he'd fallen into and sent him sprinting down the stairs. He threw the door open to discover the thin, balding man with an eyepatch.

"Felix."

"Ah, I'm glad you remembered. We didn't exactly get the chance to introduce ourselves the last time we-"

"What do you want? You said you had information from Sasha." August didn't care about playing nice or formalities. The guy wanted to meet for an exchange, and that's what they were going to do. Felix didn't seem to take kindly to that and wrinkled his nose up.

"Yes... well... here." He dug around in one of the pockets on his belt and produced a fat stack of folded papers. They didn't seem to be organized in any particular way as he shoved them into August's arms. The blonde stared down at them in confusion.

"Letters?"

Felix shrugged.

"She could've just contacted you directly, so I don't know why I have to be the middleman." Felix gave him a short wave and turned to leave. August was still a little flabbergasted, and although he didn't have any affinity for the guy, it would look bad to turn him away after traveling this far. The old man had been left behind just as he had, forgotten individuals by people they cared for the most.

Looking at Felix, that wasn't how August wanted to end up. Balding, alone, and trying to find meaning in his life.

"You wanna stay for a drink? ... maybe you could tell me what Sasha was like as a kid." He gave in to his pity and gave the man an invitation to stay. Maybe he'd pass out after a few drinks so that August wouldn't have to deal with his presence for very long.

He unfolded one piece of paper and took a peek. Small scrawling letters covered the page. Notes. To him. The sight of her handwriting made him feel ill and he didn't know why.

* * *

"Ha! She never told me that!"

"I don't see why she would! She had a boot stuck on her arm!"

The two devolved into fits of cackling laughter. A sprawl of empty glasses sat before them, empty or half-empty or just plain forgotten. Hearing stories about Sasha, the ones she hadn't shared with him, left August in a confused but amused place. On the one hand, he was learning more about her than in the time they'd spent together. On the other, he was dismayed that she hadn't shared any of this of her own volition, that she still kept him at arm's length despite...

It wasn't long before Felix could barely remain on his stool; August helped the old man to one of his couches, tossed a ratty blanket over him, and headed upstairs with the letters in hand. He was physically exhausted, but his mind was running miles a minute as to the contents of her notes. He was doing his best not to get his hopes up, though; whatever he wished for them was long over.

He kicked off his boots, propped up the pillows behind his back, and started reading.


	22. Community

August awoke with a start. A sudden scream and blaring of alarms ripped him from his slip. A sharp pain shot down the side of his neck and tore an aching grunt from his throat. He'd fallen asleep sitting up, the few letters he hadn't read yet scattered across his lap. A distant crackle drew his attention to the window just behind him.

Fire. Tall flames licked at the rocky ceiling of Hollow Point. Rakk darted this way and that to avoid their savage tongues. Dark silhouettes ran between buildings, most from the fire, others towards. From what he knew of the layout, the local grocery store was on fire.

August pulled on his shirt as quickly as he could, scattering the letters to the floor, forgotten. His boots were next as he shuffled down the stairs. He almost felt on the last step in a panic. No one ever really prepared him for what to do in case of a fire. Nothing like that had ever happened in Hollow Point.

"What happened?" he asked a random person running in his direction. It was a man with two kids gathered to his chest. Their cheeks were stained with soot and streaks of tears, and the man was doing his best to keep them calm.

"Some idiot decided to burn the place down for no reason! Dunno why, but I'm not sticking around to see what that maniac does next!"

Arson? People around here usually kept to themselves, their shady actions kept in the shadows out of sight of most people. To blatantly set a building on fire was the sign of a madman. Or someone who didn't belong here.

August wished he'd grabbed his bat before leaving, but turning back to get it would mean wasting more time. He didn't even know what he was going to do when he got there; he was running on pure instinct and adrenaline. He just knew he needed to try something.

Heat stung his eyes by the time he got to the square. The fire was much smaller than before but still threatening the rest of the buildings around it. People were gathered around to watch, many of them screaming and crying.

"You! Get me all the water you can get your hands on. I need you to go get some Technicals and start filling the flatbeds with sand. You got a room? Good, get everyone away from here and tend to the ones with burns and bruises."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at August for a second, in complete disbelief at his sudden role in all of this. He was no leader, he was just some bartender who helped people to drown their problems. No one knew what had changed him or why.

"Are you all stupid? I said get moving!"

That was enough to kick them into gear. People scrambled in different directions to get it done; the people with kids were escorted in one direction and people were offering help to those who were injured. Others sprang to the mouth of the cave to gather their vehicles and start getting as much sand as they could. That left August to take care of the stragglers who didn't know what to do with themselves. He gave them directions to The Purple Skag so that they'd have somewhere to stay in the meantime. Fingers crossed they didn't empty out his liquor supply.

A wide-eyed psycho suddenly stepped out of the flames, brandishing a flamethrower and shooting small jets at anyone who dared to come close.

"_You_!"

August was taken aback. He'd never seen this man before in his life, but to be fair, most psychos' faces blurred together in his mind. At the sight of the psycho, the rest of the crowd scattered, leaving August alone with the man.

"Okay, so it's me you want? That's no real reason to set a grocery store on fire, man." He didn't know why he was being so calm about this. Or why he was even talking to him instead of shooting him.

Oh, right. He'd forgotten his gun too.

"You killed my brother! The only family I had left! He was supposed to get medicine for ma, and he didn't come back! And it's all your fault!"

August had killed a lot of people in his life, many of them for small petty things like not paying him back. He wasn't supposed to care. That was just life around here. Everyone was just a cog in Pandora's wheel, waiting for their time to wind down.

"Alright. Maybe I did. What's coming here and killing people gonna fix? It's not going to bring your mother back, is it?"

"It'll make me feel a hell of a lot better!"

August watched in slow motion as a hot jet of white flames were spewed in his direction. It got hotter and hotter until he was sure that his face had been baked alive. He felt the hairs singeing off, his skin bubbling, and all the air being sucked out of his lungs.

Then a mighty force knocked him out of the way. It was large, heavy, and crushed him to the ground as it fell limply on top of him. The smell of charred flesh and burning hair stained his nostrils. He sneezed hard to rid them of it.

Tector groaned on top of him, his back charred red and black. His overalls were still burning and it took all August had to pat the flames out before they spread more.

"Hey! Hey, you're gonna be alright!" August tried to roll him off to free himself and to check the big guy over. The psycho didn't care, however. He continued towards them, more fire pouring out of the end of the device in his hand. August knew that if he didn't get free, then he might as well say his prayers right here.

"Ow!"

A large rock bounced off the psycho's head with a crunch. Blood seeped down the side of his head. Then another one, this time at his arm. It was enough to take the killing glee from his expression and turn it into worry.

Those who had fled earlier returned with improvised weapons in their hands, everything from rocks to bottles to even a classic pitchfork.

"Get outta here, you piece of shit!"

"Yeah, peas of sheet!" one child parroted and threw her rock as hard as she could. It caught the psycho in the knee but it wasn't enough to take him down.

They continued to pelt him with their projectiles, sending him further and further away from the downed pair. August watched on in surprise and awe as the people of Hollow Point took the situation into their own hands. One by one, they lobbed other things too: shrapnel from the exploded grocery store, chunks of wood. One such projectile caught the hose connected to the fuel tank and ripped it free. The strong smell of gasoline filled the air as it gurgled to the ground, the hose flapping back and forth like a dying snake. The flame sputtered to a fizzle too, with nothing else for it to consume.

That was enough for the people to rally a "battle cry" of sorts and charged at the psycho. realizing that his plan was no longer fruitful, he dropped his gear and turned tail, determined to get out of there before they ripped him to shreds.

Just as August was starting to lose the feeling in his legs, someone finally rolled Tector's hulking form off of him.

"You alright? You look a little burned." The couple helped him up to his feet, their faces also stained with soot. August recognized them as the owners of the grocery store. One of the women was pregnant.

"It's nothing I can't handle. Sorry about your store. The others should be coming back with-"

"It's alright. I'm grateful you even considered helping out. There aren't many people like you around nowadays."

August went beet red in the face, which would have been visible had his face not already been burned.

"Let's just say some good people have been rubbing off on me recently..."


	23. Tab

"No tab tonight."

Mordecai perched the edge of the glass against his lip. Was he sure he'd heard right?

"I'd say that's generous... but what's the occasion?"

The hunter thought that stopping by would be a good thing. He'd given the brawler his space for the time being, but a small part of him started to miss his company. And the expert way he made drinks.

"No occasion. Jus' don't feel like it."

"This have something to do with the other night?"

August winced as he continued cleaning the glass in his hand. He hadn't slept well for the past few days. All that fire and the smell of smoke still stained the back of his brain, and he didn't know what he could do to get rid of it.

"You know you don't gotta keep pretending at working. You can take a break too."

"That's the thing. I stop working, I start thinking. And I don't wanna think about..." All those people dying. All those people burning to death, the ones who got out that he couldn't save. Even with the people of Hollow Point chasing out that maniac, the damage had still been done.

Tector...

Mordecai reached across the bar and gripped his elbow. August saw twin reflections of his face in those goggles, saw how tired and ashen he looked. He was running himself ragged for no one's benefit. He hadn't even bothered to finish reading Sasha's letters. He'd left them forgotten on his bedroom floor, collecting dust like the rest of his things up there. He'd been sleeping behind the bar too, not wanting to venture back up there and relive the memories of that night.

"Tempted as I am to drink your bar into the ground, this ain't much fun seein' you bein' sour." He threw back the rest of his drink and slid the empty glass to him. "You were askin' about birds the other day, what they eat? You wanna show me why?"

August perked up; he hadn't thought Mordecai would have remembered such inane questions from him so long ago. The thought of the little bird in its box was a good distraction, instantly brightening his thoughts.

He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder and retreated into the back room. The thing had grown faster than he'd expected and now needed a box much bigger than the one he'd originally kept it in. August felt proud of the fact that he'd managed to keep alive for so long, and mostly on his own too. Like he wasn't the royal fuck-up he believed he was for so long. It was nice to have something going right for a change, even if it was something this small.

"Holy hell..." Mordecai bawked at the state of the fledgling. Its bright plumage was already coming in so it was looking less like a wet paper bag than when August had originally taken it in. "He's beautiful."

"He?" The bartender had never questioned the sex of the bird or even asked Mordecai how he could tell. He'd been referring to the bird as an "it" the whole time.

"Yeah, when it comes to birds, males are usually th'ones with all the bright plumage so they can attract mates."

"Huh. So you think he looks good?"

"Good? He looks _great_." Mordecai offered a finger for the bird to hop up on, but the creature decided to bite him instead. _Hard_. The hunter yelped in pain, his scream broken up with amused laughter. "Yeah, you got a fighter on your hands here. You gonna let him go back into the wild once he can fly?"

"I... honestly hadn't thought that far ahead." The bird calmed down when August approached to run a finger over the fuzzy fringe that ran down the middle of his head. He'd been so focused on just keeping the bird healthy that he hadn't thought what would happen afterward. The thought of the fledgling leaving sullied his mood once more; he was tired of people leaving.

"Say... I didn't. Would you help me teach him... stuff?"

"You mean like the stuff Talon knows?"

"Sure." August played along; he didn't know if birds could learn other things. "I'll even pay you in booze."

"... well, since you ain't runnin' a tab..."

Hearing Mordecai assent to his suggestion gave him a small sliver of hope that things could turn out alright. Even with his job and running the bar, coming back home to an empty room seemed to overshadow all of that, reminding him of his loneliness. Perhaps this would change all that. Having someone to talk to during those dark hours, even if they didn't understand, was better than keeping all his thoughts to himself.

"Hope you're ready to put in some long hours. I ain't gonna train him myself, so you better make sure this is what you really want."

August nodded. How would this be any harder than the other jobs he'd done?


	24. Tumbler

_"You need a hobby," the old hunter had told him. "Somethin' t'keep you busy."_

_"I got jobs," August had retorted. Who had time for hobbies when he was driving back and forth all day plus running his bar?_

_"With all them jobs, a hobby's exactly what you need."_

Click. One tumbler down, several more to go.

August struggled the lockpick into place, his tongue working at the corner of his mouth as he listened to the telltale click of it falling into the right place. This was harder than Mordecai made it out to be; August considered the idea that he'd chosen something difficult on purpose. But at least it was something to keep his mind active so that it wouldn't wander off to parts unknown. Or known but also undesirable.

After all, Sasha's scattered letters still sat on the other side of his bed, the majority of them still unread. He'd put them neatly to one side, not wanting to crush them before he'd digested all their contents. Just having them there was comfort enough. He simply wasn't ready to face whether they met his expectations or not.

They'd talked about her adventures thus far, what she'd been doing since she left. They were all pretty formal, nothing too sentimental that revealed whether she missed Pandora.

Or him.

He didn't want to keep reading them anyway, despite what Felix had said about them. If he brought more, August would take those too, but he was prepared to stash them in a drawer until he was sure he was mentally ready to deal with their contents.

Click. Second one down.

_"Ya can't use the same method for different brands. They're all made different, so you gotta learn to adapt. It'll teach you a good mindset for the future."_

_"You just want to give me a hard time."_

_"What I want to do is challenge you." Mordecai had shoved the box of locks into his hand with a slight scowl._

Click. Tumbler number three.

He couldn't help but consider whether he would have had an easier childhood had he had this skill sooner. Fewer hours spent in the closet bloodying his knuckles and wearing down the soles of his shoes. Less time in the back of a bandit Runner's trunk, hogtied and handcuffed because a mission went wrong. Breaking into buildings more quietly instead of having to blow the front doors open. Who knew the kind of person he would be now had he learned subtler ways of operating in his daily life.

One misstep; in his eagerness, August accidentally jiggled the pick against one of the set tumblers, slipping it out of its locked position. He sighed and popped his neck. His shoulders and back were starting to ache.

"Looks like I'm starting over."

One mistake wasn't going to stop him. This wasn't the same August who would give up once things started to lean towards impossible. He'd learned patience through his experiences, learned how to temper his anger and finetune it into something more productive, like a sharpened knife. He wasn't a blunt hammer anymore, smashing things in his path that he didn't want to deal with. He was tempering himself into something sharper and more refined.

Click click! The lock popped open.

August wiped his forehead with the collar of his shirt, proud in his efforts. One lock down, twenty more to go.


	25. Cruel

A harsh knocking at the door woke August up from his slumber. His bed was still littered with random locks and letters he hadn't bothered to clear up for the past few days. He couldn't even remember what day it was, but he knew that it was too early in the morning to be awake.

There was the possibility that if he stayed asleep long enough, whoever was knocking at his door would go away. Luck was against him, apparently, as he heard a familiar voice through the window, yelling from below.

"Oy! Blondie! Are you dead?"

August dragged the pillow over his head in an attempt to muffle the noise. What the heck was _she_ doing here this early? He wasn't scheduled to stop by her camp until next week.

"_August_!"

"Jeezus Christ, woman..." He dragged himself to the edge of the bed and slid the window open. He squinted down at her through bleary eyes, wondering if there was anything nearby he could throw at her. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Morning to you too, buttercup. I got business to talk about with you."

"And we couldn't just do this over the ECHO?" he drawled. It was taking all his energy to remain upright, even more just to keep his eyes open instead of surrendering himself to sleep's tempting grip.

"I like doing this shit face to face. You gonna invite me in?"

"_No_." The last thing he wanted was her here, in _his_ house and place of business, snooping around to figure what his life was like before they'd met.

"Oh, come on. You're being cruel." Veinsplitter stuck out her bottom lip. August was used to that trick and had become immune to it a long time ago.

He sighed and gathered up the letters from the bed. It was obvious that she wasn't going to go away, no matter what he said or how long he pretended to be asleep. She would find some other means of keeping him up until she got what she wanted. She was just stubborn that way.

"Gimme five minutes."

Five minutes wasn't enough time to shower, get dressed, clear up his room and put on a decent set of clothes that wasn't pulled from the bottom of his laundry, but August figured that making her wait was punishment enough for waking him up like this. The smell fresh of soap stirred his senses into waking and the warm water felt great on his skin, especially on his aching neck muscles. Five locks he'd managed to get through in the past few days; not bad for having never done this before.

Then there was the distinct creek from the other room; he knew that sound. The complaining groan of his mattress whenever he sat down on it.

August shot out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and still dripping wet. Veinsplitter was there, her back to him, and she seemed to be looking over something in her hands.

"I don't remember inviting you in here!" he barked, fury burning away the last fuzzy cobwebs of his mind. He valued his privacy, even more so when permission wasn't given.

"Got bored waiting... I let myself in..." she mumbled. She sounded distracted, entirely focused on whatever it was she had in her lap. August couldn't care less about what she was busy with. His house, his rules, and if he had his way, he would throw her right out the window.

But he lost all of it when he stormed across the room and found one of his letters in her lap. Stunned, he had no words. Confusion. Anger. Violated. Murderous. They all danced through his mind and left him frozen in place as he continued to drip onto the floor.

"Who's S-"

He didn't let her finish. This wasn't her business, she didn't need to know _any_ of this about him. She was a business partner, not a friend so there was no reason to share any of this with her. He ripped the letter right out of her hand, not caring that he might tear it in two, and pulled her off the bed by her shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are, coming in here and reading my shit!?" August shoved her toward the door, the crumpled letter balled up in his fist. "I don't mess in your shit, you don't mess around in mine!"

Veinsplitter's expression was one of shock before she regained her senses. Determined to remain, she kicked the door closed behind her and crossed her arms.

"This isn't good for you, you know."

"I don't want to hear it!"

"Yeah, you don't! That's how you always are, not wanting to hear what anyone else has to say if it goes against what you want."

"_This_," he snatched up more papers and shook them in her face. "Has nothing to do with us!"

"Doesn't it? You're being cruel to yourself, August. Pining after some girl who isn't even here! Holding out like she's gonna come back to you with open arms! You're practically torturing yourself."

"_Out_."

"I'm just calling it-"

"_I said get the fuck out_."

"You're being childish."

"_You want cruel_!? You're just some lonely bitch clinging to the one good person they've met in a while, following me around like some puppy dog just because you're a fan of what I've done. You don't know how to get along with other people because you're shoved so far up your own ass with your pathetic little secrets, acting like you're some kind of bandit queen. But it's all just a sad, sorry attempt to give your life meaning and for what? So you can die with the biggest piece of pie you stole from everyone else? Well, _congratulations_ on having the biggest dung heap, Miss Princess of Shit! Now, _get_... _the fuck_... _out_."

August's head hurt. His eyes hurt. His throat hurt from the yelling. His chest ached. In fact, his entire body felt like it was on fire, and for what? Veinsplitter turned and left without a word, left August to his room and his mess and his continued heaving to replace the air he'd lost. She left him to his static-filled mind and messy room. What she couldn't leave behind were his words, barbed and hooked deep into her skin. Pulling at them would only make them work their way in deeper, and she had no patience for that. A strong bottle of gin would remove them all on its own.

August dropped onto his bed with his head in his hands, digging his nails furiously at his scalp. He hated being deciphered, picked apart like some kind of lab rat. His motives, his actions, were _his_, not entertainment for outsiders. What he chose to do, harmful or not, was no one else's business.

He peered down at the ball of wrinkled paper in his palm.

"Can't wait to hear from you" was scrawled across the page in Sasha's script.

"... goddamit."


	26. Okay

_I'm not okay._

"I can see that. You wanna tell me why?"

_Not really._

"You have to start somewhere, August. You're letting it eat you up inside. Again."

_Don't know how to do it differently._

"... okay. Start at the beginning, yeah?"

August crinkled the page between his fingers, tore it from the spine, and added it to the pile in the corner. He was not okay, unable to find the right words to put on the page. Keeping a journal of his thoughts, he decided, was better than going out and venting to the world wasn't going to fix anything.

Yet, pen to paper, all his thoughts spilled out of him like verbal vomit. There was too much to get down and no coherent place to start. And that was only making him more agitated.

"Okay. Just write... something."

_I am angry._

"That's a start."

_I'm angry because a friend violated my personal space by going behind my back. Then criticized me for the way I choose to live my life._

"Okay. What else?"

_I'm angry because I feel like I can never find a space for just myself. There's always someone encroaching on my territory or trying to figure me out. I'm tired of being stared at and scrutinized._

From then on, the words started to flow, his thunderous thoughts slowing to a cool trickle that teased the anger out of him at a reasonable pace. August found himself mostly at peace as he continued to jot down his thoughts, focusing more on his feelings rather than pointing the finger at whoever was as fault.

By the time he was done, he'd filled four entire pages. Very little of it strung together like a coherent thought but that wasn't the point. He was trying to win prizes with a story here.

"Hey!"

August bolted from his seat and turned, his gun drawn. In the doorway of his bedroom stood Janey Springs, looking exhausted as ever.  
"Fuck, haven't you heard of knocking?"

"I've been downstairs knocking for the past hour. I came by to check if we were still on for next week."

"Next week..."

"The vow renewal reception?"

August facepalmed and groaned.

"You forgot," she chuffed, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah. But it shouldn't take much to get everything set. I got the list of all the stuff you want, no problem."

"You better. Cuz there's only so much I can do to keep Athena from chucking that shield of hers into your face. ... you okay? You look... miffed."

August glanced back at the tattered, leather-bound book sitting on his desk. He pondered if he would ever have the time to fill the whole thing.

"Yeah. ... yeah, I'm okay."


	27. Park Here

Despite how they'd left things, August wasn't one to ignore his job, especially if it kept the Raiders happy. The scheduled trip to Veinsplitter's place had to be made, and he wasn't about to look like a coward by sending someone else in his place.

What he hadn't expected was to see the bandit queen herself, standing by the gate. She was dressed in her usual flair, without the mask. Her expression was hard to read but at least she didn't look pissed at his arrival. She even helped to unload everything from the flatbed into the storage building, though she didn't say a word. Not until he was ready to leave.

"Is it alright if I go with you? I think we need to talk."

August's hopes of a peaceful day sank. He just wanted to get back to the bar, take care of his business, and see what needed to be done tomorrow around Hollow Point.

"Promise I'll only take up an hour of your time and then you can kick me out."

That sounded fair enough and undid the lock inside so that she could climb in.

"You know where Lynchwood is?"

They were heading all the way out _there_?

"It's quiet there. Pretty much a ghost town now. ... please?"

It was that or listening to her beg for the next few minutes, so he decided to take her out there. The road was bumpy at best, the tinny music on the radio filling the silence between them.

"Park here," she finally pointed out a short distance away from Lynchwood. She was right; it was absolutely dead this way.

"This... is the middle of nowhere."

"That's the point. Now park before I bitchslap you."

August rolled his eyes and pulled the Technical into the shadow of the monolith. It was cooler in the shade and he didn't know how long they were going to be out here. No need to roast his skin in the process.

"You wanna tell me what this is about? Or are we gonna play the guessing game again?"

Veinsplitter rolled down the window to let some warm air in. August could just see the black curls peeking out of the long scar across her scalp and wondered if this was the right idea.

She held up her fist and clenched it a few times, as if testing something, before she slapped the dashboard in agitation.

"You'd think I'd be good at the word things by now but you are... making it difficult." She cast a glance over her shoulder and through the rearview mirror to make sure they were absolutely alone. August couldn't understand what she had to worry about... or why she was acting this way.

"Okay... Have I ever led you down a path that you thought was bad for you?"

"Can't say you have, no."

"Okay, so do you think I would ever say something to intentionally hurt you for shits and giggles?"

August couldn't answer that in the affirmative either.

"Then why... are you so hung up on this Sasha person? I only told you what you needed to hear and you acted like I shot your dog or something."

August felt his hackles raise. It was his automatic response whenever someone started talking about Sasha and he didn't know why. There was no reason for him to be on his guard about her when what they had wasn't and wouldn't go anywhere. It made no sense that he would hold onto something so empty and unfulfilling, that left him feeling like absolute shit every time he fell down that rabbit hole and spiraled into feelings of guilt and nausea.

"Sasha was someone special to me. Real special, and she broke my heart."

"You fell that deep for her, huh."

"You could say that. She earned my trust when I thought I couldn't trust anyone ever again, only for it all to be a lie. To this day, I still don't know if there was anything genuine about what we had."

She felt his cold fingers around his wrist. He realized he'd been staring at his feet the whole time, as if his dusty boots would provide him with the answers he was looking for.

"And you think if you see her again, you'll find out?"

"Iunno. Maybe." He shrugged his shoulders but not enough to pull himself from her grip.

"Looks like she got you on a tether and keeping you dangling. You're living by her rules, August, not yours. That's what I was trying to get you to see the other day. I'll apologize for the way I said it but not the fact I did. You gotta start living for yourself again."

"Yeah? I tried that living with you in your camp and look how _that _turned out. You got messed up by that thing they put around your neck, all because you had to pick a fight with Vaughn and his people."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you used to work with him? Or that he was friends with the Raiders?"

"The first time I told you to leave Mordecai alone when he was outside your gate, you looked pissed to hell!"

"Hey, I was ready to have some fun and you nipped that in the bud. Of course a girl's gonna look disappointed when she can't get her panties in a bunch. That doesn't mean you can't talk to me about shit, though. You know how much time we could've saved? How you could've stopped that shit from happening to me?"

August ran his hands through his hair. He didn't want to think about the pain she must have gone through, especially if that thing had been capable of suppressing her powers.

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm just getting a little tired of fucking up." He pressed his forehead against the steering wheel. Why did apologizing always make him feel so small?

"Hey, I'm sorry too. But everyone fucks up. That's the point."

"The point?" He swiveled his head to look at her.

"Of living, dumbass. If everyone was perfect, this place would be boring as hell and no one would learn anything."

August didn't see it that way. Making mistakes meant getting his ear cuffed. The only thing he learned was how to roll with the swings so that they wouldn't hurt as much. There had been no pleasing his mother.

"Vallory... my mom thought I wouldn't learn anything if she didn't slap the shit out of me. Makes it hard to let mistakes happen, you know?"

"Shit, that sucks. ... to be honest, knowing that, you make a lot more sense now. You wanted to please your mom and she still treated you like shit. You tried to do the same with this girl, trying to make her happy and she just _left_. You got abandonment issues coming out your pores."

"See, _this_ is why I didn't want to talk about this, I don't want people poking at my problems to slap a label on me." August yanked his wrist free and started up the Technical. "Your hour's up, by the way."

Veinsplitter rested her hand on his and gently turned the engine off.

"Okay, so another bad move on my part. _Sorry_. But I keep getting this feeling that that night in the truck, you were just using me to get over her."

"And you were just using me for sex to fulfill your little hero worship fantasy. What's your point?" August couldn't hide the bite on his tone nor rein back on his hurtful words. He thought they'd ben squared away on what that night of intimacy had meant for both of them.

"That's not fair," she recoiled, pulling the key out of the ignition in the process.

"Isn't that the point of life?" he returned with a toxic sneer. It was met with an attempted swing at his cheek, purple-black tendrils curling out of her palm. He caught it easily but there was nothing to stop the wriggling arms from wrapping around his wrist. This time, their touch wasn't so friendly. The skin of his wrist was already starting to turn grey.

"We're doing _this_ now? Maybe Mordecai and the others were right to be afraid of you."

August didn't know why he was goading her on in his current position. She'd described in detail what she could do with her powers when pushed to the limit. What bothered him more was that he realized he didn't care.

And she saw that in his eyes too. That need for self-destruction, to see for himself whether he was really worth saving or should crumble to dust like all the rest. She saw it and knew that she was making a mistake. Knew that if she killed him here, she was proving him right, not to mention rendering her earlier apology pointless.

August felt his heart speed up again with those things draining him dry, felt the dizziness in his head as his pulse fueled oxygen and adrenaline into his brain. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed that she was choosing to spare him instead.

"You _are_ a stupid motherfucker..." she hissed, yanking her hand from his grip.

"Only the best," he returned dryly. He touched at the skin as it slowly regained its colour.

_That was a stupid move, August._

He didn't get to dwell too long on that thought as black lips met his own. It was a yearning, bruising kiss that left him speechless, confused, and less angry. What he _didn't_ feel was any returned passion for her attention. Whether it was desperation or some attempt at another apology, August didn't care. He'd been through too many yoyoing emotions today to try and sort out which it was.

"... so you _are _jealous of her," he finally asked when she broke away, her black lipstick smudged across her mouth. He didn't even want to see what his face looked like after that display of affection.

"No. I can't be jealous of someone I've never met. But you're missing out on the things right in front of you if you're gonna keep pining for her." Veinsplitter remained close, despite the cold exterior that radiated off him.

_She was chasing him while he continued to chase someone else. How poetic._

"Maybe I am. If I wanna keep up that delusion, that's no one else's business but mine. I'm sick of people telling me I'm wrong."

She shrugged and leaned the seat back. His lack of reciprocity must have taken some of the wind out of her sails.

"You do you. And if you ever get over it, not saying that I'm gonna hold out for you like some kinda lovesick puppy, you know where to find me. Maybe then we can start having some _real_ fun."

August's eyebrows almost reached his hairline, they went up so high.

"More fun than having sex in the back of a Technical?"

"August, you have _no_ idea..."


	28. Vampires?

"... what the hell's a vampire?"

Brick's head met the desk so hard that the tiny figures on the map fell over. Mordecai and Tina both winced in pain. Or out of disbelief. August couldn't tell which.

"Big teeth? Sucks blood? Turn into bats? Haven't you ever seen a horror movie?" Brick mumbled around the desk smooshed against his face.

"No." August's face felt warm as he turned one of the plastic dice around in his fingers. He didn't understand how this was supposed to be some kind of game. Maybe if they stopped belittling him for not knowing stuff and actually explained it to him, then he'd have a better time of this.

"Tina, please." Brick gestured at the blonde bartender after he peeled his face off the desk. "I'm gonna get more snacks so's I don't punch something." He scooted his stool back so far that it felt over. Mordecai and Tina winced again. August was getting sick of this.

"Don't mind Brick. He's a little uppity since we're heading into the dungeon boss' lair." Mordecai waved dismissively at the bandit leader's retreating back. He slid one of the beers over to August and gave him a sympathetic look.  
Come over, he'd said. You'll have fun trying something new. It had been a great suggestion to clear his head and do something different for a change. But this wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"Youuuu need help making your character?" Tina asked, perched over the table to take a peek at his character sheet. Her mouth twisted to one side when she saw that none of the boxes were actually filled. "Auggie boy, you had two weeks to do this."

"Yeah, two weeks where I asked one of you to help me and no one answered!"

Mordecai and Tina glanced at each other with guilt written on their faces. They both thought the other had handled it.

"Alright, let's try and get as much down as we can before Brick gets back."

* * *

"18."

"I'll give it to you. Segren the mighty warrior bard sings a song to lull the dragon to sleep." Tina gestured at August, which was met with a look of confusion. "Ahem, the bard's supposed to sing."

"Wait, you want me to actually sing?!"

"Ha! This is gonna be great!" Mordecai leaned back in his seat with his half-empty beer dangling from his fingertips.

"Oh, don't you start. Can we... just say I sing and have it at that?" August was sure that he couldn't turn any redder than he felt.

"I need to know what you're singing to him, Auggie. Probably shoulda thought about that before you made a bard."

The air in the room was stifling as August tried to think up some impromptu lyrics. A tune, he'd have to make up on the fly or go with something he knew from another song.

He cleared his throat and shut his eyes.

"I tuck you in, warm within, keep you free from sin. 'Til the sandman he comes. Dreams of war, dreams of liars, dreams of dragon's fire and of things that will bite..."  
The tune didn't match the words at all, an intentional choice on his part so that the others wouldn't recognize where the song actually came from. He didn't need them knowing what golden oldies he listened to nowadays.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word, never mind that noise you heard. It's just the beasts under your bed, in your closet, in your head."

Tina snorted for a second.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. The might dragon lowers its head to the ground, its eyes fluttering closed as your song works its magic. Curled up tightly into a ball, you can see its chest rising and falling, slower and slower until you can hear it snoring. What're y'all gonna do?"

Mordecai sneered and pointed at Brick, just as the large man raised his hand.

"I swear to god, if you say punch the dragon, I am _never _playing this game with you again."

Brick lowered his hand, looking quite disgruntled.

"We sneak past the dragon into the next room." August gathered up his dice again in preparation for another saving throw.

"You gonna take any of its treasure? There's lots of jewels and gold in there~."

The three looked at each other.

"The dragon's asleep. The door's right there..."

"Yeah, but what's the point of leaving if we don't have anything to show for it?"

"We _won't_ if we wake the dragon and it kills us after all that hard work."

"What if the gold's cursed? What if it's one of Tina's tricks?"

"I vote we play it safe."

"Well, _I_ vote we take some gold!"

The clunk of the dice rolling on the table drew their attention away from the argument. Both turned up 1s.

"Your _loud_ bickering doesn't disturb the dragon's slumber. Make your decision. _Quickly_."

"I book it out of there," August blurted out."

"Good. Anyone gonna follow?" Tina wrung her hands together. No one liked the look on her face. "The hidden panel in the rock wall slides closed behind Segren, leaving Gagh and Persophone locked in with the sleeping dragon."

"Oh man!"

"C'mon, Tina, that's not fair!"

"Tch!" She held a finger to her lips. "I asked if you wanted to leave and you didn't answer. Suck it up, chumps! Now, Segren, you're locked in a dark room where there is the faint smell of cinnamon and lavender. What do you do?"

"I've got a few torches left. I'll light one."

"Good, good. As the flame grows larger and brighter, you spot a hill of reflected firelight across the room."

"I'll throw the torch and light a new one. ... 14?"

"Fourteen..." Tina waggled her hand back and forth in contemplation. "Fine. Your torch clatters against a pile of gold. There are sconces at the corners of the room for you to light, should you wish to see better."

"Sure, I'll do that."

"Which one are you going to start with?"

"The... one to my left?"

"And then~?"

"Go... around the room clockwise?"

"Okay," Tina sighed. August didn't like how that sounded at all. "When you light the last sconce, the sweet smell of lavender and cinnamon vanishes and is replaced with swamp gas and rotting meat. Roll a CON check."

"20?"

"Okay I don't know how you're staying alive when this is literally death gas but I'm not one to argue with the dice so I guess you're immune someone to the gas being pumped into the room so what do you do now?"

Tina had never been so red-faced before in her life.

"Gather up an armful of gold and look for the exit."

"Search check?"

"_20_."

And then she got redder.

"This wasn't what was supposed to happen! You had all the clues at the beginning on the order you were supposed to light the sconces in to get out and now you're undermining all that with your stupid rolls and what's the point of even making puzzles if they don't work the way they're supposed to!?" Tina grabbed the edge of the board and was about to flip the whole thing when Brick grabbed her arm, shaking his head.

"Just let him have this one, Tina. It's not worth it."

"Ugh. Fine. You leave your friends behind, you escape with the gold, you're the hero, yadda yadda, end of story."

"_Tina_." Mordecai glared at her from across the table.

"What?! He ruined my plan, I can ruin his ending!"

"Don't be like that." Brick folded his arms and glowered down at her.

* * *

"So what did you think?" Mordecai joined August on the balcony for some fresh air while Brick and Tina cleaned up.

"Weird. Kinda fun. Like making your own story or something. You guys do this every week?"

"You sound like you're interested." The hunter toasted his empty bottle against his.

"I could give it a go a few more times. Long as Tina stops yelling at me."

"Ha! She hates beginner's luck. You'll get used to it."


	29. Chicken

Seventeen. August had been waiting for what felt like forever for this day to come. A single number would change his world for the better. Because seventeen meant that he wasn't bound to his home anymore. This was one promise his mother couldn't take from him: on his seventeenth birthday, he would finally be allowed to drive.

He was fresh out of his bed and pulling on his clothes as he ran for the door. Chores and missions could kiss his ass as far as he was concerned. Whatever Vallory had planned for him was going to have to wait because he wasn't going to spend one more minute in this wretched house with that wretched woman listening to her acidic words. This was his opportunity to be free for once and he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

He finally got his pants zipped up by the time the Runner digistructed before him. It was a horrible rust colour and shook slightly on its wheels as the suspension kicked in from being materialized out of thin air. August squeezed his way through the window and turned the key before he was fully inside. The roar of the engine coming to life was met with a yell from inside; he'd woken his mother up, at the crack of dawn, no less. Too bad for her he would be long gone before she managed to finish pulling on her robe.

August cackled as he kicked the boosters on. The wind filled his ears and whistled through his hair, leaving him with mostly silence and the adrenaline-filled _thump-thump_ of his heart in his chest.

_Free._

That word had a new meaning to him, one that felt solid between his teeth and rooted in his mind the seed of things to come. He had no reason to stay here; he could go anywhere he wanted, do anything he wanted. Start his own bandit clan. Book a shuttle off-planet. Disappear into the wastes or become famous. Pandora was his oyster. He just needed to figure out where to start prying to get it to open up for him.

He slowed down to a steady pace when the warm, summery air became a little chill. He could spy ice and snow just at the edge of the desert, and tall, metal structures strapped to the side of the dam. The walls were painted with various incarnations of eyes in a red colour that he was sure was blood.

"Get outta here, Johnny! No one wants you around!"

A bandit with slumped shoulders dragged his heels behind him, appearing as if someone had just told him Pandora had run out of meat.

"Hey, you! Kid!"

August diverted his attention to the man at the gate. He was big, huge, actually, that the sight of him made August want to turn tail and run.

But he was seventeen now. A grown man. This was the moment for him to shine and prove to the planet that he wasn't some scared kid strapped to his mother's apron strings anymore.

"Yeah? What do you want?" He hopped out of the Runner and strolled up to the gate, his chest puffed out and his hands at his side. The closer he got, however, the more he came to realize that he probably should have brought a pistol with him.

"How good are you at driving?"

Admitting that today was his first day behind the wheel would earn him no brownie points. He needed to earn some cred around here.

"Depends. I'm not the kind to go crashing into skags, if that's what you're asking."

The large bandit cocked his head to one side and stared at August for a while, much longer than was comfortable for him.

"... let's see how good you are, then."

August sulked that the bandit wouldn't take his word for it. But if he wanted him to prove himself, then at least August would have a show to put on. That would teach this guy to put his foot in his own mouth.

"Shoot. What do I gotta do."

"Stay on course. You think you can do something as simple as that?"

"Pbth, please. How hard could it be?"

The bandit followed him back to his car and got in the gunner seat. He pointed out where to go, which led them to a large, empty snowdrift with absolutely nothing around.

"Stop here." The bandit climbed out before August really slowed down and skidded across the icy snow. "Drive straight and don't turn for anything."

How hard could that be really?

"No problem. How'll I know when to come back."

"Oh, you'll know."

August took off at the bandit's signal and gunned it as fast as he could. He could see icebergs in the distance, floating on the lake. He wondered just how far he'd have to go before-...

A black speck was quickly growing in speed towards him. First a speck, then what he thought to be a toy car, and then a Runner. The flares at its back told him the boosters were on... and it was on the same course he was on.

_Don't turn for anything._

"... oh, shit." It dawned on August that this was some kind of initiation, a test to see how fearless he could be. Bandits didn't just take anyone, they took the craziest sons-of-bitches who didn't fear death.

The _thump-thump_ in his chest grew lighter and faster, like butterfly wings threatening to burst from his chest. He licked his lips and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. If he postured enough, stayed the course, it was a possibility that the other person would turn first and save them both from being scraped off the ice by spatulas.

Closer, closer... He could see the bandit in the other vehicle, bone-white mask and glowing eyeholes that would put terror into anyone's heart.

The lightheadedness took him. It was now or never to prove himself.

Freedom. Did it have to come at the price of death?

Would his mother cry for him?

He would become another statistic on this planet, another idiot succumbing to the dares of psychos and murderers.

Freedom meant choice. The choice to continue living, to be safe, or to die at the horrors of this place.

August leaned on the horn. The Runner kept coming, the headlights getting brighter and brighter until there was nothing but white in his vision.

* * *

The Runner went careening off to the right, straight up an embankment and into a nest of bullymong caves. The collision with the wall shook snow down from the cliffs and onto the Runner. Onto August. Snow slipped down the back of his shirt and added more shivers to his already-shaking body.

He cursed himself for turning, for looking couldn't he have just stayed the course? They would have accepted him, taken him in, and given him a reason to never go ever again. Instead, he was stuck with his shame and no real place to go to hide it.

_Save for home._

The growls of feral bullymong snapped him from his thoughts and flared the Runner engine back to life.

So much for playing chicken.


	30. Bash

"Shhh."

If not for the soft whisper in his ears in a familiar voice, August would have pulled out his gun and ended this person's life. Tensed up, his shoulders hurt and he had to quiet his mind before he did something stupid.

"Sash, you know better than to sneak up on me like that." He choked down the anger in his voice and forced a smile to his face. A tentative touch to her fingers calmed the rest of his mind. She always did have that effect on him, whether he wanted it or not.

Her hands remained where they were, her elbows coming to rest on his shoulders as she leaned against his back. He could feel her vibrating with silent laughter against him. He couldn't help but wonder what was so funny.

"How would you prefer I surprise you on your birthday?"

Oh, he could think of many things, half of them he wouldn't dare mention in front of the other patrons. Another year older, and this time it seemed like it would be a good one. Birthdays weren't something he celebrated often and not with other people. Ninety percent of them had been lonely, a few he'd gone without a cake or dessert of some sort. But this year, he had a beautiful woman on his arm, with supposed plans to treat him to something nice.

"That depends on what you've got in store for me, really."

Sasha's hands finally fell away to curl around his neck, leaning over his shoulder to kiss him on the lips. It was soft but brimming with excitement. He could tell this was going to be a good day.  
"That would be telling, and I don't do that." She tapped him gently on the nose. "I will give you this, though."

August stared down at the t-shirt she'd placed in his lap. "Goat Hole" was written across the grey fabric in jagged neon letters, with a stylized goat head underneath.

"You didn't..." he whispered breathlessly.

"I did. It took eight months to get tickets but they finally showed up last week. You think you'll have time away from the bar to-"

"Fuck the bar!" August turned and snatched Sasha off the floor, the shirt tucked under one arm. He spun around with her in his grip, his heart pounding painfully against his ribs. To be able to see one of his favourite bands in person had been a dream of his since he started running this place. Responsibility and time had been major factors in preventing him from going, not to mention the unpredictability of his mother's plans.

"August."

"No, you know what I meant!" He smothered her neck in kisses before putting her back on her feet. August would die before he let the bar go. It was his pride and joy, something he'd built himself from the ground up with his own money. But he could give himself one day away from it if it meant seeing Goat Hole.

"Are we leaving right now?" August found it difficult to compose himself.

"We can go in a bit. It's only an hour drive from here and the concert doesn't start until 5."

"You... have something else planned then."

"You keep asking these questions, August, and you're going to ruin your own birthday."

"Alright, alright. I've just never had anyone plan anything on my birthday before."

"That's... sad." Sasha folded her arms before her, looking quite uncomfortable. She didn't need to be reminded of the things Vallory had put him through. It was a good thing he hadn't raised their relationship to her, or she was sure that she would be on the losing side of a vicious argument. Or worse.

"Yeah... well, let's not dwell on that. Today's my birthday, only the good stuff. You can get the car ready and I'll finish taking care of everything here."

* * *

Another blindfold kept the rest of the day's mystery in check. The sounds of the tyres against gravel and the smell of the air told him nothing, other than they were heading someplace warm and pleasant. And then it hit him like a brick wall, seconds before Sasha undid the knot of the blindfold. Warm salty air, the sudden crashing of waves once the engines were off. He stared in awe at the sight of the beach laid out before them. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been here, much less if he even had any good memories of this place.

He was jolted from his state of shock when the door opened to his right. Sasha stood there with her hand held out to him.

"Princess. Your meal awaits."

"Oh god, if I knew you were going to be this cheesy..." August rolled his eyes, but swept his legs together out of the seat, as if he'd been sitting side-saddle on a horse.

"What do you expect, hanging around you so long?"

That walk arm-in-arm was short, along the shoreline and up the wooden stairs to the pier where a row of colourful stores stretched out in either direction.

"Hope you're hungry."

* * *

August wasn't sure exactly what a coconut was, but he was a changed man now that he'd had his first taste of coconut cake with that grated stuff on top. He could feel his belly practically straining against the button of his jeans, he'd eaten so much. Sasha didn't look like she was fairing any better as she stumbled out beside him.

"Remind me never to eat that much again..."

"Hey, you could've stopped after your third creme brulee. I'm not your keeper when it comes to bad decisions." August stifled a burp that threatened to bring up some of that cake. There was no way he was going to be hungry for the rest of the day.

He didn't know if they were going to be able to go to the concert either.

* * *

Thankfully, they felt a little better by the time they got there. The stadium was almost fully packed by the time they got through the ticket gates, leaving August worried. There was no way they were going to be able to even see the band from this far back.

Yet Sasha was leading him straight through the crowds, skirting the edges and uttering "excuse me's" to everyone she pushed her way past.

All the way up the front row.

"How did you... these seats must have been..." They were centre-stage, right at the front. August could almost reach out and touch the stagehands putting things together.

"I have my ways. And like I said, I had to wait eight months for them." She elbowed him lightly in the side, beaming with pride at her gift. August couldn't tell if it was constantly-shifting lighting going on or if her face looked warmer than usual. As for him, he felt hot _all over_.

"So. Best birthday bash ever?"

August struggled to form the words in his mind, to properly put together a "thank you" on his lips. She'd done all of this, for him. It couldn't have been cheap or easy to organize _and _keep all of it hidden from him. He'd never felt that way before: treasured. Like he was worthy of someone else's time and effort.

"Oh, August..." Sasha's expectant expression changed and she was soon embracing him, though he didn't know why. Not until he felt the drip of moisture on his cheek. He quickly thumbed it away and tried his best to keep his breathing even. Big boys weren't supposed to cry, after all.

"More than the best, Sash. I'm gonna remember this day for the rest of my life."


	31. Cookie

It was just one bad thing happened after another. August was torn up, burned, sore on every inch of his body, smelled like skag vomit, and he was sure one of his pinky toes was broken from kicking the flat tyre of his Technical after it had broken down in the Blight. Nothing had been shaping up to look like a good day.

He knew he should get up and wash the grime off his skin. The hot water would do well to take care of his wounds and relax his muscles too. Yet, he chose to collapse onto his bed instead. Stained sheets could be washed later. His body demanded rest and he wasn't going to argue.

His eyes burned with exhaustion when he closed them. How had he gone from being a small-time bandit to running one of the bigger freelance enterprises out in the Wastes? It was hard to put the pieces together in his mind, the path he'd taken to get to this point. It all felt so unreal like it should be happening to someone else. Luck had never been on his side from the start.

The sting of gold rings clipping his cheek.

The time he'd broken his leg, trying to prove himself.

The failure of a mission at the eridium plant. He'd had asthma for months after that.

His first tryst in a club bathroom with some rando he was sure had been high at the time.

Getting stabbed. Being shot at. Betrayals. How had his once-simple life become so colourful?

When he opened his eyes once more, two hours had passed and there was the smell of something warm and sweet in the air. His eyes stung as they tried to focus on the plate of something on his nightstand: the source of the smell. August pushed himself upright to find a large chocolate chip cookie, small wisps of steam rising from its rocky surface. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever had a cookie but the smell transformed his stomach into a yearning chasm, demanding entry.

One bite was all it took for all his tension to leave with a heavy sigh. Were it so easy to let everything go on a daily basis, he would have indulged himself sooner and more often.

Once he was done, he got up to wash the mess off his hands and saw what a sight he was. Bruises and blood and dirt covered his visage. His shirt was torn and one of the back pockets of his pants was completely ripped off.

"Hey, Sash? Thanks for the cookie," he called out over his shoulder when he heard someone coming up the stairs. She didn't have to do that for him, not when he'd been away for so long without even sending her a word.

"Who's Sasha?"

August whirled around to the voice of not-Sasha and braced himself against the sink. He felt vulnerable and confused at that moment, convinced that the cookie couldn't have come from anyone else.

"Y-... you..."

"Yeah. Me. Who else did you expect it to be?"


End file.
